India’s largest IT services firms have reported a sharp rise in sexual harassment complaints in recent years, with data from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro pointing to a shift in reporting patterns following changes in ESG disclosure norms.
Disclosures from company annual reports show complaints under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) framework increasing across firms between FY21 and FY23. TCS reported 27 cases in FY21, rising to 49 in FY23. Infosys reported 16 cases in FY21 and 78 in FY23, while Wipro reported 25 cases in FY21 and FY22 before increasing to 78 in FY23.
The rise coincides with the rollout of the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework mandated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which standardised ESG disclosures for the top listed companies from FY23 onwards and expanded them further under BRSR Core.
Consulting firm KPMG, in a note, stated that the shift to structured ESG reporting has improved the consistency, visibility and comparability of disclosures, with companies required to track and report specific metrics more rigorously. Higher reported numbers, it notes, may reflect improved awareness, stronger reporting mechanisms and greater trust in internal processes, rather than a proportional increase in incidents.
Company disclosures reflect similar themes. TCS, for instance, has attributed higher reported cases to increased employee awareness and reporting.
While reported complaints rose sharply through FY23, the pace of increase has moderated in subsequent years. TCS reported 110 complaints in FY24 and 125 in FY25, while Wipro reported 98 complaints in FY24 and 103 in FY25. Infosys reported 103 complaints in FY25, based on available disclosures.
The pattern suggests a stabilisation in reported numbers following an initial increase during the transition to more standardised ESG disclosures.
HCLTech has not been included in the comparative analysis due to differences in disclosure formats across the period. While recent reports follow the BRSR framework with structured tables, earlier disclosures are presented in narrative form or use differing definitions, making year-on-year comparisons with peers unreliable.
Across companies, disclosures indicate that most complaints are investigated and addressed through internal redressal mechanisms, supported by awareness programmes, training initiatives and non-retaliation policies.
Disclosures show that a significant proportion of sexual harassment complaints are addressed within formal redressal mechanisms, though exact disposal rates are not consistently comparable due to differences in reporting formats and definitions.
In earlier years, companies such as Wipro reported no pending cases at year-end, indicating that all complaints received during the year had been closed. More recent disclosures under the BRSR framework provide a clearer split between cases filed, resolved and pending, and show that pending cases have increased alongside higher reporting volumes.
Infosys, which provides relatively detailed breakups, reports outcomes such as conciliations, disciplinary actions and ongoing investigations, indicating active case processing, though year-on-year disposal ratios are not always directly disclosed.
Overall, the data suggests that companies have established formal mechanisms to investigate and act on complaints, while the rise in pending cases in recent years likely reflects higher reporting and more structured tracking of cases, rather than a directly comparable decline in resolution rates.
The data gains significance in the wake of the ongoing case at Tata Consultancy Services’s Nashik facility, where multiple complaints of alleged sexual harassment and religious coercion have led to a police investigation, arrests and an internal probe.
Authorities have registered several FIRs, and investigations suggest that allegations may span multiple years, with questions also being raised about how internal complaints were handled.
While the case remains under investigation and the allegations are yet to be proven, it has intensified scrutiny on workplace safety and grievance redressal mechanisms in the IT sector.
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