Sexual Harassment at Workplace: Understanding the POSH Act, 2013
A woman who faces sexual harassment at work often knows something is wrong long before she knows what she can do about it. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, usually called the POSH Act, sets out that route. Its deadlines are short, and a missed deadline can end a good complaint before anyone hears it.
What the Law Treats as Sexual Harassment
Section 2(n) lists the conduct: unwelcome physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.1 Whether conduct was unwelcome is judged mainly by how she received it. What he says he intended does not settle the question.
Section 3(2) adds circumstances that can make conduct harassment when they come with it:
- An implied or explicit promise of better treatment at work.
- A threat about her job or future.
- Interference with her work.
- A hostile and intimidating environment.
The Act isn’t limited to the office. Under Section 2(o), a “workplace” includes any place visited during employment, including transport the employer provides.3 Interns, trainees, probationers and contract workers are covered, and so is a woman who is not an employee at all but is harassed at the workplace.
Where the POSH Complaint Goes
Internal Committee (IC)
Every employer with ten or more workers must set up an Internal Committee (Section 4). It is headed by a senior woman employee, at least half its members must be women, and one member must come from outside, usually from an NGO.4
Local Committee (LC)
If the workplace has fewer than ten workers, or the complaint is against the employer himself, the complaint goes to the Local Committee, which the District Officer constitutes for each district (Section 6).5 In Mumbai, that means the District Officer for Mumbai City or Mumbai Suburban, depending on where the workplace is.
The Three-Month Limit for Filing a POSH Complaint
Section 9 requires the complaint to be made in writing within three months of the incident. Where there is a series of incidents, the three months run from the last one. The Committee can extend the period by another three months if it records in writing why she could not complain earlier.6
If she can’t write the complaint herself, the Committee members must help her put it in writing. Under Rule 7(1) of the POSH Rules, 2013, she submits six copies, with supporting documents and the names and addresses of witnesses.7
If this is happening to you, keep every message, email and call log. Write down each incident on the day it happens, with the date, the place, what was said and who was nearby. A diary made at the time carries far more weight than a memory reconstructed months later.
Important POSH Act Complaint Deadlines
| Legal Requirement | Time Limit | Relevant Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Filing the complaint | Within three months of the incident | Section 9 |
| Extension for filing | Additional three months | Section 9 |
| Copy of complaint to respondent | Within seven working days | Rule 7 |
| Respondent’s reply | Within ten working days | Rule 7 |
| Completion of inquiry | Within ninety days | Section 11(4) |
| Submission of inquiry report | Within ten days after completion | Section 13 |
| Employer’s action | Within sixty days | Section 13 |
| Appeal | Within ninety days | Section 18 |
Settlement Only If She Asks
Before the inquiry begins, the Committee may try conciliation under Section 10, but only at the request of the woman. No monetary settlement can be the basis of it. If a settlement is recorded and the respondent later breaks its terms, she can tell the Committee and the inquiry goes ahead.8
Protection While the Inquiry Runs
Under Section 12, she can make a written request for interim relief. The Committee can recommend that she or the respondent be transferred, or that she be given up to three months of leave in addition to her usual leave.9
Rule 8 adds that the respondent can be stopped from reporting on her work or writing her appraisal.10 The employer must implement these recommendations and report back.
The Inquiry and Its Timelines
The Committee sends a copy of the complaint to the respondent within seven working days, and he has ten working days to reply (Rule 7). Neither side may bring a lawyer into the proceedings, and at least three members must be present.11
The inquiry must be completed within ninety days (Section 11(4)). The report goes to the employer within ten days after that, and the employer must act on it within sixty days (Section 13).12 Where both parties are employees, both are heard and both receive a copy of the findings.
If the Complaint Is Proved
The Committee can recommend action under the service rules or, where there are none, under Rule 9: a written apology, warning, reprimand, withholding of promotion or increments, termination, counselling or community service.13
It can also direct compensation from the respondent’s salary. Section 15 tells the Committee to consider her mental trauma, loss of career opportunity, medical expenses and the respondent’s income.14
Confidentiality, Appeal and Penalties on Employers
Section 16 bars publishing or disclosing the contents of the complaint, the identities of the parties and witnesses, and the proceedings.15
Either side may appeal within ninety days of the recommendations (Section 18).16 An employer who fails to constitute an Internal Committee faces a fine of up to fifty thousand rupees, doubled on a repeat conviction, under Section 26.17
The Criminal Route Is Separate
A POSH complaint doesn’t stop her from going to the police. Section 28 says the Act is in addition to other laws.18 Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, sexual harassment involving physical contact, a demand for sexual favours or showing pornography carries up to three years (Section 75), sexually coloured remarks up to one year, assault or criminal force to outrage a woman’s modesty one to five years (Section 74), and stalking up to three years for a first conviction (Section 78). 19
A Note on False Complaints
Section 14 allows action against a complaint that is malicious or knowingly false. Its proviso says that a mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof need not attract action against the complainant, and malice must be established through an inquiry first. 20
This article is general information about the law as of November 2026, not legal advice. The facts of each case change the answer.
Endnotes
- POSH Act, 2013, s.2(n).
- ibid, s.3(2).
- ibid., s.2(o)(v).
- ibid, s.4(1)-(2).
- ibid, s.6(1).
- ibid., s.9(1) and second proviso.
- ibid., s.9(1) first proviso; POSH Rules, 2013, r.7(1).
- POSH Act, s.10 and s.11(1) first proviso.
- ibid, s.12(1)-(3).
- POSH Rules, r. 8.
- ibid, r.7(2), (3), (6) and (7).
- POSH Act, s.11(4), s.13(1) and s.13(4).
- POSH Rules, r. 9.
- POSH Act, s.15.
- ibid., s. 16.
- ibid, s.18(2).
- ibid., s. 26.
- ibid., s.28.
- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, ss.74, 75 and 78.
- POSH Act, s.14(1), provisos.
Reference
- tanmayshirsatlegal.co.in/legal-guides.
Written By: Adv. Tanmay S. Shirsat is an advocate at the High Court of Bombay, with chambers near BKC, Mumbai.
