POSH Internal Committee - formation, composition, annual return

Every NGO with 10 or more workers (paid or volunteer) must constitute an Internal Committee under Section 4 of the POSH Act 2013. This guide covers composition rules, the presiding-officer and external-member requirements, term and renewal, complaint-log obligations, the annual return under Section 21, and District Officer scrutiny.

What POSH 2013 requires

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 - commonly POSH - mandates that every "workplace" with 10 or more workers form an Internal Committee (IC) to receive and inquire into sexual-harassment complaints.

"Workers" is defined broadly under Section 2(f): full-time, part-time, contract, casual, daily wage, volunteers, interns, consultants. If your NGO has any 10-person headcount mix from this list, POSH applies.

Non-compliance penalties under Section 26 are ₹50,000 for first offence, escalating to licence cancellation on repeats. FCRA renewals routinely ask for POSH compliance evidence.

Composition of the Internal Committee

Section 4(2) prescribes exact composition. The IC must have at least 4 members:

1. Presiding Officer - must be a senior-level woman employee. If no senior-level woman is available, you can nominate one from another office of the same employer, or borrow one from another NGO temporarily.
2. Two members from amongst employees - must be committed to women's causes / have legal-knowledge / be familiar with the workplace's social work.
3. One external member - must be from an NGO or association committed to women's causes, or a person familiar with sexual-harassment issues. Cannot be an employee of the trust.

At least half the members must be women. For a 4-member committee, that's 2 women minimum (one of whom is the Presiding Officer).

Term and tenure

IC members serve a maximum 3-year term. Reappointment for further 3-year terms is allowed if the employer reconstitutes formally - there's no perpetual-term provision. Calendar a 3-year reminder.

Mid-term changes (member resigns, leaves the NGO, etc.) require formal reconstitution by the employer with a Section 4(2) order. Don't operate with a vacant seat.

The IC's responsibilities

1. Receive complaints - verbal or written, in any form. Conciliation is allowed if both parties agree (Section 10).
2. Conduct inquiry - within 90 days of receiving the complaint. Both parties present, evidence recorded, principles of natural justice followed.
3. Submit findings to employer - within 10 days of inquiry conclusion (Section 13).
4. Recommend action - could be warning, written apology, transfer, demotion, termination, or counselling.
5. Maintain confidentiality - Section 16 mandates non-disclosure of identities of parties involved.
6. File annual return - to the District Officer in the prescribed Form (Section 21).

The forms you'll use

• Form A - Complaint form (template for the complainant)
• Form B - Settlement form (when conciliation succeeds)
• Form C - Enquiry-completion certificate
• Form D - Annual return to District Officer
• Form E - Periodical report (where applicable)
• Form F - Annual report to employer
• Form G - Administrative-cost reimbursement claim

Donateazy ships pre-populated templates for all seven forms inside the POSH dashboard. You fill in the case-specific details; the trust details, IC composition, registration numbers auto-populate.

The annual return under Section 21

Every IC must file an annual return by the date prescribed by the appropriate Government (typically January-March of the calendar year). Contents:

• Number of complaints received
• Number of complaints disposed of
• Number of pending complaints (and reasons for pendency beyond 90 days)
• Number of workshops / awareness sessions conducted
• Nature of action taken by the employer

NIL return - yes, you file even if you had zero complaints. The IC's existence + the workshop record are what gets audited; "we had zero cases" is not a defence for not filing.

Awareness and training requirements (Section 19)

The employer must:

• Conduct regular workshops / awareness programmes for employees
• Train IC members on conducting inquiries
• Display the IC composition and complaint-procedure prominently at the workplace
• Provide necessary facilities to the IC for dealing with complaints

Maintain an Awareness Register with dates, attendees, signed attendance sheets. This is what the District Officer scrutinises during compliance visits.

The Aureliano Fernandes guidance (2023)

In Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa, the Supreme Court directed all states to ensure IC compliance was actually being implemented - not just on paper. After this judgment, District-level POSH compliance visits became routine. Don't treat IC formation as a paper exercise.

Common compliance failures

1. IC without external member - most common failure. External member's KYC + nomination letter + acceptance letter must be on file.
2. Presiding Officer not senior enough - the law uses "senior" loosely but District Officers want clear seniority.
3. Member composition fails the half-women threshold - particularly in technical NGOs with male-dominated staff.
4. No annual return filed - even NIL returns must be filed.
5. No awareness workshops - annual training records are now standard scrutiny.
6. Confidentiality breaches - IC members discussing complaints in informal settings. The fine is steep.

POSH in NGO context specifically

Three NGO-specific tensions:

1. Small staff size - many small NGOs barely cross the 10-worker threshold. The temptation is to skip IC formation. Don't - volunteers count, and the threshold is checked at the time of complaint.
2. Field workers across geographies - your IC must cover all locations. Either form a single IC with broad jurisdiction or constitute Local Committees for branch offices.
3. External member is hard to find - many NGOs reciprocally serve as external members for each other. Donateazy's CA partners maintain a roster of pre-vetted POSH external members.

Frequently asked questions

What if my NGO has fewer than 10 workers? POSH doesn't require IC formation but the workplace-respect obligations still apply. Local Committee at District level handles complaints in that case.

Can the trustee chair the IC? The Presiding Officer must be a "senior-level woman employee." A trustee can be an IC member if eligible but isn't typically the Presiding Officer unless also serving in an operational senior role.

What's the IC's term? 3 years max per Section 4(2)(d). Renewable by employer reconstitution.

How do I find an external member? Reach out to peer NGOs in your sector, or use Donateazy's pre-vetted external-member roster (one is included with our POSH onboarding service).