By Anuradha Gandhi and Isha Sharma
In a move to tighten the enforcement of workplace safety laws for women, the District Women and Child Development Officer, the Mumbai City, had issued a public appeal reminding all private establishments of their statutory obligations under the POSH Act, 2013 vide Notification No. DGIPR/2025-26/480.
Mandatory Requirement to constitute IC
Pursuant to Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 popularly known as the POSH Act it is mandatory for every private establishment employing 10 or more employees to constitute an Internal Committee (IC). This Committee is critical for ensuring a safe and harassment-free workplace environment for women and to address complaints pertaining to sexual harassment at workplaces.
Failure to comply with this legal requirement can attract a penalty of INR 50,000 as per Section 26 of the Act.
Mandatory Registration on SHe-Box portal:
Shockingly, several establishments have yet to form an IC despite it being more than a decade since the enactment of the law. Hence, in order to streamline verification and compliance, the Central Government had directed all establishments to register their IC details on the SHe-Box portal.
Steps to Register:
The following steps needs to be followed to register an Internal Committee on the SHe-Box portal:
- Visit the SHe-Box portal- https://shebox.wcd.gov.in/
- Select ‘Private Head Office Registration’ as shown on the home screen
- Fill in all the required details promptly and click on Submit for registration.
This will help to verify whether an Internal Committee has been constituted in accordance with the law.
Compliance Deadline: May 15, 2025
All private institutions in the Mumbai city District are urged to complete the registration process on the SHe-Box portal by May 15, 2025.
This directive comes under the supervision of Ms. Shobha Shelar, District Nodal Officer and District Women and Child Development Officer, Mumbai.