Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) registration mandatory in few Indian states

Employers in Gautam Budh Nagar, Mumbai and Telangana are required to register their Internal Complaints Committee with the respective state authorities. Under Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH), it is mandatory for all workplaces having ten or more employees to frame an anti-harassment policy and constitute an Internal Complaints Committee under the Act for each of the offices separately. 

As per the Act, the composition of the ICC shall be-

• Presiding officer – senior level woman employee of the workplace
• 2 members – amongst the employees committed to the cause of woman/ experience in social work or legal knowledge
• 1 member – from NGO/ association committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with issues of sexual harassment.

The non-constitution of the ICC in the quorum prescribed under the Act, attracts a penalty, including fine up to Rs.50,000 and twice the amount of fine on the repetition of the same offence. 

The courts in India have also repeatedly imposed a penalty for non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Act including, the non-constitution of ICC’s as in the case of Medanta, where the hospital had to pay INR 50,000 as fine.  

It has been 9 years since the POSH Act was passed but many companies still do not have an ICC. 

In order to ensure that the companies comply with the POSH Act, Gautam Budh Nagar, Maharashtra and Telangana have made it mandatory for companies to register their Internal Complaints Committees with the State authorities.

As per Section 23 of the POSH Act, the Central and State Governments are both empowered to monitor the implementation of the Act. It is therefore mandatory to comply with the official orders and the failure to furnish information or non-registration of the ICC could lead to a fine extending up to Rs.50,000 as well as cancellation and/or withdrawal of business licenses.

Due date and consequences of failure

As per the Order, the details of the ICC of establishments in Gautam Budh Nagar should be submitted by 30 November 2019 and failure to submit the same would attract a penalty of INR 50,000.00.

Establishments in Gautam Budh Nagar employing ten or more employees are required to register their ICC with the Shebox portal. Please provide all the details pertaining to ICC in the S.H.O.R website/app. For any technical help with S.H.O.R website/app email us at contact@ungender.in or call us at +91 95826 30056.

The details must be submitted in the given format on the website on or before 30 November 2019. Failure to furnish information within the due date will result in penalizing the defaulter by an amount of Rs. 50,000/- and can result in cancellation or discontinuance of a licence for running its business.