Business groups are urging the Chancellor to reconsider the decision to scrap tax breaks for employers lending computer equipment to staff.
The Home Computing Initiative (HCI) was established in 1999 to promote IT literacy.
More than 1,250 employers have schemes in place, and half a million people have benefited.
The IT industry is estimated to have invested £50m in the HCI, and nearly 100 firms, employing almost 2,000 staff, have been set up to deliver the scheme.
But last week’s Budget cancelled the tax exemption underpinning the HCI and from next week the scheme will no longer be available.
Cancellation of the HCI will affect tens of thousands of citizens and put jobs at risk, according to the HCI Alliance.
‘We know the digital divide cannot be bridged by HCI alone, but it is making a real difference,’ said director Vivien Quinn.
Jim Norton, senior policy adviser at the Institute of Directors, said: ‘The HCI is a good initiative, well worth continuing, but it suffers from initiative fatigue.
‘It was announced a long time ago and is no longer newsworthy. That means that in the eyes of the Treasury it is better to cancel it and do something that can be announced.’
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