POSH Complaints at Nifty 50 Companies Rise 4.6% in FY26

Workplace sexual-harassment complaints reported by India’s Nifty 50 companies rose 4.6% in FY26, continuing an upward trend that experts say may reflect greater awareness and willingness among employees to use formal complaint mechanisms.

The companies reported 1,327 complaints under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace framework during FY26, compared with 1,269 in the previous financial year, according to an Economic Times analysis of company disclosures.

The increase does not necessarily mean sexual harassment itself rose by the same proportion.

Experts cited in the analysis said higher reporting can also indicate that employees are more aware of their rights and have greater confidence that complaints will be heard.

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Complaint numbers have risen for two consecutive years

The FY26 figures continue a broader upward movement.

Excluding two Nifty 50 companies for which comparable data was unavailable, complaints rose 6.3% in FY25 over FY24 and another 5.2% in FY26 over FY25.

The difference between the 4.6% and 5.2% figures comes from the sample used.

The 4.6% figure compares the total reported complaints across the full Nifty 50 basket, while the 5.2% calculation uses only the companies for which comparable year-on-year data was available.

That distinction matters because complaint volumes alone cannot be used as a direct measure of how common workplace harassment is.

A company with more complaints may have a serious workplace problem, but it may also have employees who feel more confident using the formal reporting system.

Similarly, a company reporting very few complaints cannot automatically be assumed to have a safer workplace.

Higher reporting can indicate greater trust

POSH experts quoted by ET said rising complaint numbers can be a sign that awareness efforts are working.

Vishal Kedia of Complykaro attributed part of the increase to mandatory employee sensitisation and greater attention to the reputational and legal consequences of POSH failures.

Pallavi Pareek, founder of Ungender, said larger listed companies generally show more reporting because employees may have greater confidence that complaints will be acted upon.

At the same time, she pointed to continued underreporting in smaller and mid-sized businesses.

That creates an important problem when comparing companies.

A low number of complaints may reflect an absence of incidents, but it can also reflect fear of retaliation, uncertainty about the process or distrust of the Internal Committee.

Complaint data therefore works better as one indicator of workplace culture than as a simple league table of safe and unsafe employers.

What companies are legally required to do

India’s Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 requires employers with the prescribed workforce size to establish an Internal Committee to receive and investigate complaints.

The law also requires Internal and Local Committees to prepare annual reports.

Employers must disclose the number of sexual-harassment cases filed and how they were disposed of in their annual report, or provide that information to the District Officer where no annual report is required.

The legislation also places responsibility on employers to monitor the timely submission of committee reports and take measures to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

The Supreme Court has continued to monitor implementation of the law.

In proceedings concerning nationwide compliance, the Court has directed governments to ensure that Internal Committees are properly constituted and has noted gaps in implementation across institutions and workplaces.

Digital harassment is becoming more visible

The nature of complaints is also changing.

Experts told ET that verbal harassment, unwanted communication and misuse of hierarchy remain common, while complaints involving digital communication have become increasingly prominent.

Messaging platforms, email and social media now form part of many workplace interactions, particularly after remote and hybrid working became widespread.

This can make boundaries less obvious than in traditional office environments.

An inappropriate message sent after working hours, repeated unwanted communication or misconduct on a workplace-linked digital platform may still become relevant to a POSH inquiry depending on the facts and its connection with employment.

Experts also reported a rise in peer-level complaints, rather than complaints involving only senior-subordinate relationships.

That means Internal Committees increasingly have to assess questions involving consent, repeated communication and workplace power dynamics that may not fit older stereotypes of harassment.

Informal sector remains a major blind spot

The improvement in reporting among large listed companies does not necessarily extend across the wider economy.

Advocate Madhumita Mitra told ET that compliance remains considerably weaker in the informal sector, where many workers may not have easy access to properly functioning complaint mechanisms.

That is significant because complaint statistics are shaped by whether a reporting system actually exists and whether workers know how to use it.

For boards and senior management, the more useful question may therefore be not whether complaints are rising or falling, but whether employees trust the mechanism enough to report misconduct without fearing career consequences.

A company can satisfy the formal requirements of the POSH law and still have employees who hesitate to speak.

That makes complaint numbers a starting point for examining workplace culture, not a final measure of it.

What this means for you: A rise in POSH complaints should not automatically be read as proof that a workplace has become less safe. Employees should look at whether complaints are resolved fairly, Internal Committees function independently and retaliation protections are taken seriously.