New Delhi: Nokia has invoked the India-Finland Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement to resolve the dispute, even as nearly 75 per cent of permanent employees at Chennai plant opted for voluntary retirment scheme. Nokia late last month wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh invoking dispute settlement clause in the India-Finland BIPA to settle the row that had led to its Chennai plant being left out of the over $7.2-billion deal with Microsoft.
The treaty provides for amicable conciliation proceedings and arbitration under local and the UN Commission on International Trade Law. “Nokia is keen to work with authorities in India to resolve the tax disputes. As one of our actions, Nokia has sent a letter under Finland India Bilateral Invest-ment Treaty (BIT) to the Prime Minister of India. The letter seeks for amicable resolution of the current tax disputes," a Nokia spokesperson said.
However, BIPA clauses state that if a dispute between the country and the investor cannot be settled amicably within three months, the investor can approach local courts or seek international conciliation under UNCITRAL Conciliation Rules for its resolution. The party can also approach the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes or approach an adhoc arbitral tribunal under the Arbitration Rules of UNCITRA.
Meanwhile, nearly 5,000 of the 6,600 permanent employees of Nokia plant at Sriperumbudur near here have opted for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) announced by the company in April. “While we set no target for the VRS in terms of the number of employees, we have about 5,000 employees opting for the scheme (which ended today),” a Nokia India statement said.
It also said that to support the employees who have taken the VRS package, the company had introduced a ‘Bridge’ initiative under which “consultancy services and employment outlook trainings” were being offered. Nokia India Employees Union sources said that the employees who had opted for the scheme, which entitles a benefit of around Rs 2 lakh, did so out of fear of job loss. “About 5,000 people have left the company. Actually, they were not interested to leave. But out of fear of losing the job later without even the VRS compensation, they opted for the voluntary retirement scheme,” they claimed.
