About

Philips Lighting was set up as a separate entity in India with a new and independent legal team in April 2016 and the initial challenge for the team, without causing any business disruption, was to support the growth and profitability of the company across the Indian subcontinent. ‘This was done by creating robust processes in governance, legal risk management and defining novel ways to address the contracting issues in long-term business projects in terms of limiting liability and managing risk’, according to Nitin Mittal, the company’s head of legal, compliance and company secretary for the Indian subcontinent. His legal team of four lawyers and a qualified company secretary is responsible for the entire legal, compliance and corporate governance activities of Philips Lighting in the Indian subcontinent which has three entities across the region including two large conventional factories in India and over 3,000 employees. ‘The small team is required to take quick decisions, be abreast with legal changes, negotiate complex contracts and tackle regulatory challenges in a fast moving lighting industry’, says Mittal. Senior legal counsel Amit Goel is responsible for project contracts, litigation and also leads the technology initiative for the company and is supported by Namrata Bhatia on all contracts with specialisation in project contracts and litigation. Compliance manager Amit Pal leads the compliance initiative on anti-corruption, anti-trust and their implementation as well as labour law general legal advice to the business whilst qualified company secretary Harvinder Kumar supports the board governance and related legal compliance and processes. The legal team has successfully advised Philips Lighting India on large system and service project deals, executing business strategies in key South Asian countries by resolving historic disputes and providing smart and timely litigation to protect the cash flow and reputation of the company. It is also commended for embracing technology in a smart and effective way to ensure and monitor compliance of all applicable laws, manage contracts across the market region, improve board governance by board disclosure e-tools and helping the company comply with and manage the internal and external landscape on the recent environmental law changes. As the company moves from a traditional product business to a system and service company, it is striving to lead the industry in leveraging the Internet of Things to transform homes, buildings and urban spaces. Explaining the impact of this on the legal team, Mittal says, ‘From this perspective, a change in mind-set was required to embrace digital laws, using technology in our way of working, deciphering the intricacies of changing business with the terms of the contract and recognising risk in large and long term complex contracts and ultimately bringing value to the table’.