Section 26, POSH Act 2013 — What Non-Compliance Costs

What the section does

• Where an employer fails to constitute an Internal Committee, fails to act on the recommendations of the committee, fails to file the annual report, or contravenes any other provision of the Act or its rules, the employer is punishable with a fine which may extend to ₹50,000.
• On a repeat offence, the punishment may be twice that provided, and can extend to cancellation of a licence or withdrawal or non-renewal of a registration required for carrying on the business.
• The obligation to constitute the committee arises under section 4 for every workplace with ten or more employees, counted without regard to the form the employment takes.
• The annual report obligation runs to the District Officer, and its omission is itself a contravention the section reaches.

Fine

up to ₹50,000. Twice that on a repeat offence, with licence or registration consequences available.

Where people go wrong

• Counting only employees on the payroll. The threshold takes in workers engaged on other terms as well.
• Constituting a committee on paper without the external member the Act requires.
• Treating the annual report as optional once a committee exists.
• Assuming the fine is the whole exposure. The licence and registration consequences on repetition are the part that stops a business trading.

Common questions

What is the penalty for not having an Internal Committee?

A fine of up to ₹50,000 under section 26 of the POSH Act, 2013. A repeat contravention can attract twice that punishment and the cancellation or non-renewal of a licence or registration needed to run the business.

At what size does an Internal Committee become mandatory?

Ten or more employees at a workplace, under section 4 of the Act.

Is filing the annual report part of compliance?

Yes. Failing to file it is a contravention section 26 covers, alongside failing to constitute the committee or to act on its recommendations.

Act on this

• Section 4 — constituting the Internal Committee
• POSH policy template
• Employee threshold checker

• Section 4 — constituting the Internal Committee
• POSH policy template
• Employee threshold checker

About this summary

A plain-English summary of what this provision requires, not a reproduction of it and not legal advice. Read alongside the bare Act, and take advice on anything turning on your own facts.