Despite the debate on how the economic crisis would pan out for the multi-million dollar BPO industry, the Indian companies engaged in this domain have already gone into cost-savings mode with a list of dos and don'ts for their companies.

Most of the IT and BPO companies have a bigger list of don'ts as part of their efforts to reduce costs and ensure that their margins, which would be squeezed by the liquidity crunch, doesn't get any thinner.

Many companies have rewritten their rulebooks by cutting down on previously accepted norms like lunch coupons, entertainment allowance and travel arrangements for staff who stay beyond a certain distance from their offices, especially for day shifts.

Published media reports said that some BPO companies have even told employees that they won't be provided cabs unless there is a requisite number of passengers to be dropped. This also means longer travel times as cab trips are planned out in direction specific ways.

A report in the Economic Times quoted an internal memo from Wipro boss Azim Premji in which he asked employees to cut down on "discretionary" expenditure. Another Bangalore-based IT company disclosed that they had discontinued cab drops for senior staff in case they are going home alone.

There are also reports of companies cutting office expenses by shifting to a cheaper brand of bottled water and curtailing all travel by Business class within and outside the country. Some have gone further and asked for additional clearances for any travel like Deutsche Bank where only the COO can approve travel. Most have been asked to make do with video conferencing.

Of course, steps like removing colour printers and cutting down on use of air conditioners at night is also being done to ensure reductions in operating expenses. There are also those who are cutting down on stationery and even the number of newspapers and magazines subscribed in-house.