Articles

Business interruption insurance in India - Adapt and evolve

The impact on businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of scale and complexity, and difficult to estimate. While addressing unique challenges, corporations are looking for means to recover from this disruption’s short-term and long-term economic consequences. A palpable recourse for companies is to rely on Business Interruption (BI) insurance to recover the losses of business income during this crisis. This coverage typically pays for lost net profit, standing charges, and an increase in working cost to maintain output during the indemnity (loss) period. However, most Indian corporates do not have insurance for the consequential business losses arising from COVID-19.

Remote forensic acquisition: New way to collect and manage evidence

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to unfold, organisations are focusing on gradually resuming business. One of the areas that has been impacted due to the business lock down in India is corporate and internal investigations. The inability to acquire evidence by visiting the location where data is stored has resulted in investigations becoming prolonged and requiring additional efforts and innovative solutions to overcome these limitations. Our experience indicates that prolonged investigations can compromise involved parties and run the risk of evidence being lost or destroyed. In times like this, remote forensic acquisition of evidence can be a consideration for organisations.

Mitigating risk of contract failures resulting from COVID-19 disruptions

As COVID-19 continues to spread, its impact on business is becoming apparent. Historically, there has been an unearthing of large-scale contractual risks, following most natural disasters or pandemics. With this context, we need to stay vigilant amidst the chaos brought about by the current pandemic.

To help understand the challenges with regard to contractual risks and the enforcement measures that can be taken to mitigate the risks , we hosted a webinar in association with J Sagar Associates on 24th April 2020.

Ensuring effective utilisation of CSR funds for combating COVID-19

Corporate India has responded overwhelmingly to the government’s call to support COVID-19 relief efforts by contributing several hundred crores in donations to various funds in just few weeks. Given the staggering sum of funds that will be finally made available for the COVID-19 relief efforts, putting in place robust and effective frameworks to monitor and track the use of these funds and their impact on mitigating the pandemic, is critical. Historically, funds meant for large-scale relief efforts have seen misuse, misappropriation, and fraud. For example, an estimated US$ 500 million was misappropriated during the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the US. Given the disbursement pressure, stringent timelines, and limited transparency around fund use, ensuring effective utilisation and mitigating misuse can be challenging.

Compliance should not slip through the cracks

Your manufacturing process requires a critical material, and your regular (empanelled) supplier is unable to fulfil the requirement, what will you do? Under normal circumstances, you would scout for suppliers and put them through the vendor empanelment procedures, including carrying out adequate due diligence. Thereafter, you would place orders with the identified supplier so that your requirement is met.

Safeguarding remote working arrangements from cybercrime risks

Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 by the Indian Government and state authorities have resulted in significant business disruptions. Organisations have taken several measures to minimise these disruptions by enabling remote working provisions for their staff. Technologies like video conferencing, VPN solutions, cloud enablement, etc., are being used to facilitate smooth business continuity.