Complaints under India’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) framework have surged nearly fourfold across the country’s top IT services firms over the past five years, pointing less to a spike in workplace misconduct and more to a growing willingness among employees to speak up.

Data from the four large-cap firms show that reported cases, which hovered at under 30 in FY21 — with Wipro as the lone outlier at 43 — climbed sharply to 444 by FY25, as per CIEL HR. Both Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro crossed the 100-mark, reporting 125 and 155 complaints respectively, indicating a steady rise in disclosures across the sector.

However, rather than purely focusing on the larger numbers, Shruti Vidyasagar, a POSH compliance lawyer, said it is more important to consider the year-on-year trend.

“There is a generational shift in terms of what expectations from workplaces and a better understanding of rights. Boundaries at workplace have become very important,” said Vidyasagar.

The shift to virtual workspaces during Covid-19 as well as greater attention to POSH compliance during the wrestler’s protest in 2023, increased employee awareness and pushed employers to take a better look at the company measures to prevent such atrocities.

“Employers are putting in more effort, generally speaking. Clients are keen on ensuring at least once a year refresher sessions of employees on these topics. More people are coming forward now,” she said, adding that there is lesser shame among companies in admitting receipt of such complaints.

Large-cap IT services companies in India currently retain around 2-5 lakh employees. This means that despite the growing voices, POSH complaints for each of these companies accounts for less than 1 per cent of the workforce.

Nonetheless, Vaneesha Jain, independent lawyer working with Support Against Sexual Harassment (SASHA India) and legal consultant working with IT firms said there is an overall trend towards compliance among companies.

“They have been pushing towards better compliance measures, follow-up quizzes, posters, regular sessions for committee members,” said Jain.

According to Nithya Rajshekhar, Legal Consultant, SASHA, the sector has taken POSH compliance more seriously, pressure from global clients is a factor.

“Contracts with companies from Europe and the US require IT Companies to ensure compliance with workplace safety norms including sexual harassment,” said Rajshekhar.

Published on April 19, 2026