Mantralaya sources told The Financial Express that the objective is to exempt the growing IT and software industry from certain sections of this Act pertaining to duty structure of employees and their timings.

These sources said that such amendments, in addition to various other initiatives, would help increase IT and software exports from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. Nasscom has already identified Mumbai as an e-business capital.

These exemptions would be based on representations made by Infosys chief Narayan Murthy to the prime minister and Karnataka chief minister on the similar issues.

According to Section 15, no employee in any establishment shall be required or allowed to work for more than nine hours on any day and 48 hours in any week. The government has admitted the industry demand that internationally as well as in India, the concept of "flexi-timing" needs to be encouraged.

The industry has said that deadlines fixed by the global customers have to be met if competition is to be retained. Moreover, no physical labour or effort is involved in knowledge work.

As per section 16, an employer can engage person for five hours at a stretch and thereafter the employee should be given a some rest.

The industry said that the period of work of an employee in an establishment each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed five hours and that no such person shall work for more than five hours before he/she has had an interval of rest at least one hour.

The periods of work of an employee in an establishment shall be so fixed that inclusive of his/her interval for rest, they shall not spread over more than 12 hours in any day. The Section 17 deals with payment of overtime to employees for working more than nine hours a day.

However, the industry said that in view of flexi-time, the payment at double the wage rates is not only inappropriate but also wholly unreasonable. Thus, it had stressed the need for amendment to this section.

Additionally, the section 33 bans woman employees working between 8.30 pm and 6 am. However, the industry hoped that such restrictions would not apply to IT and software, based again on the flexi timing concept.