US Senator proposes to end outsourcing through taxation

A US Senator from New York is planning to introduce legislation that will tax US companies that uses overseas call centres in order to keep call centre jobs within the US.

Senator Charles Schumer of the Democratic Party said yesterday that he will push legislation, where a company faces 25 cents excise tax for every customer service call that is transferred to overseas call centres.

The legislation would also require the call centre to inform US customers that the call is being transferred to an overseas call centre and the country.

The new legislation, if passed would require the overseas call centre to tell the caller where his or her personal information, like bank account number, credit card number, or medical history, is being kept.

Companies would be required under the legislation to certify to the Federal Trade Commission each year that they are adhering to the new procedure or face penalties if they did not certify.

Companies would have to give a list of their total customer service calls received and the number of calls transferred to overseas call centres.