For most employees in India, “POSH Committee” calls up a single image: a panel of HR and senior managers hearing complaints behind closed doors. That picture is only half the story. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, builds two redressal forums, not one, and the gap between them is where most employees, and even some HR teams, get lost.
An Internal Committee (IC) operates within the workplace and is established by the employer. A Local Committee (LC) sits at the district level and is constituted by the government.
Both can investigate sexual harassment complaints and produce reports that carry legal weight. But they apply to different situations, and sending a complaint to the wrong one can stall a case for months.
When a complainant approaches an IC that has no jurisdiction, the respondent can later challenge the inquiry. When a worker in the unorganised sector doesn’t know an LC exists, the harassment goes unreported. Jurisdiction clarity determines whether a complaint moves forward at all.
What is an Internal Committee?
Section 4 of the POSH Act requires every workplace with ten or more employees to constitute an Internal Committee. The IC is the employer’s statutory in-house body for handling sexual harassment complaints, and its absence makes the employer non-compliant under Section 26.
Composition
The IC must have at least four members, with at least half women, structured as follows:
- Presiding Officer: A senior woman employee of the organisation.
- Two internal members: Employees, ideally with experience in social work or legal knowledge.
- One external member: From an NGO or someone familiar with sexual harassment issues.
Members serve a maximum tenure of three years. TPB’s walk-through of IC composition and tenure rules covers eligibility, disqualifications, and external-member requirements in depth.
Employer Responsibilities
The IC’s jurisdiction is its own workplace, so a company with multiple offices must establish a separate IC at each location, rather than a single centralised committee. Beyond the constitution, employers must:
- Display IC member names and contact details prominently at the workplace.
- Conduct annual awareness training for employees and orientation for IC members.
- Provide secretarial and procedural support for inquiries.
- Act on the IC’s recommendations within 60 days under Section 13.
- Submit a Section 21 annual report covering complaints received, disposed of, and pending beyond 90 days.
As POSH and DEI strategist Aparna Gonate put it in her conversation with TPB: “The process should feel fair, kind and serious, not cold or scary.”
What is a Local Committee?
A Local Committee is the parallel mechanism for everyone that the IC framework doesn’t reach. Section 6 of the POSH Act requires the District Officer, usually the District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, Collector, or Deputy Collector, to constitute an LC in every district.
Composition
Under Section 7, the LC must have at least five members, with at least half women, nominated by the District Officer:
- Chairperson: An eminent woman from the field of social work, committed to women’s causes.
- One local member: A woman working at the block, taluka, tehsil, ward, or municipality level.
- Two NGO or expert members: At least one must be a woman, and preferably one should have a legal background.
- Ex officio member: The district officer dealing with social welfare or women and child development.
At least one member must come from the SC, ST, OBC, or notified minority community. LC members also serve up to three years.
District-level mechanism for the unorganised sector
The LC is the only POSH forum that meaningfully extends to India’s unorganised sector, where most of the female workforce, including domestic workers, agricultural workers, and home-based workers, has no employer with a headcount sufficient to constitute an IC.
According to MWCD data on the SHe-Box portal, 777 Local Committees have been notified across districts as of March 2026, though actual functioning varies by state.
To bridge the last mile, Section 6(2) requires the District Officer to designate a Nodal Officer in every block, taluka, tehsil, ward, or municipality. The Nodal Officer’s role is narrow but important: receive a local complaint and forward it to the LC within seven days.
When a Complaint Goes to the Local Committee, Not the IC
The Act lays out three situations where the LC, not the IC, is the correct forum.
| Situation | Why the LC has Jurisdiction |
| The workplace has fewer than 10 employees | An IC isn’t statutorily required, so there is often no internal forum to begin with. |
| The complaint is against the employer | The IC reports to the same person who is the respondent, creating a structural conflict. |
| No IC has been constituted despite the legal requirement | The complainant cannot be left without recourse because of the employer’s non-compliance. |
The second category has gained recent legal weight. In X v. Akademi, the Delhi High Court held that an “employer” under POSH is not limited to designation. The Court ruled that the LC had jurisdiction because the institution’s Secretary exercised real administrative control. Where the respondent is the de facto employer, the IC structurally lacks jurisdiction.
The TCS Nashik case raised the same concern operationally. The IC allegedly failed to act, with the arrested HR manager accused of suppressing complaints. When an IC member is alleged to have abetted misconduct, internal adjudication breaks down.
The third category is more common than employers admit. A 2024 survey of 200 senior HR professionals, cited in TPB’s analysis of POSH under-reporting, found that 59% of companies hadn’t constituted a legally compliant Internal Committee at all.
Key Differences Between the IC and the LC
The two committees share the same statutory powers of inquiry under Sections 11 and 13, but almost everything else differs.
| Parameter | Internal Committee | Local Committee |
| Constituted by | Employer | District Officer |
| Statutory basis | Section 4 | Sections 6, 7 |
| Jurisdiction | One workplace | The entire district |
| Minimum size | 4 members, half women | 5 members, half women, including an SC/ST/OBC/minority woman |
| Chairperson | Senior woman employee | An eminent female social worker |
| External presence | One external member | Majority external; structurally independent |
| Who pays | Employer | Government, with prescribed fees |
| Best suited for | Workplaces of 10+, complaints against colleagues or managers | Workplaces under 10, complaints against the employer, or where no IC exists |
| Reports to | Employer; Section 21 report to District Officer | District Officer, who acts on the LC’s recommendations |
| Member tenure | Up to 3 years | Up to 3 years |
The most important structural difference is independence. An IC sits inside the organisation it investigates. An LC sits outside every organisation in its district. That distance is precisely what makes the LC the right forum when the employer is the problem.
How the Complaint Process Differs in Practice
The choice of forum changes the filing channel, the inquiry experience, and sometimes the timelines.
Filing Channels
A complaint must be filed in writing within three months of the incident, extendable by another three months for sufficient cause.
- IC: Submit the complaint to any IC member, typically the Presiding Officer.
- LC: Submit the complaint to the District Officer, the LC Chairperson, or a Nodal Officer at the block or taluka level.
- SHe-Box: Either route can also be accessed through the SHe-Box portal, which auto-forwards complaints to the appropriate committee. (As of March 2026, over 1,61,000 workplaces had registered on the portal.)
Inquiry Procedures
Both committees follow the principles of natural justice under Section 11 and have the same core powers to:
- Summon witnesses and require documents.
- Recommend interim relief, such as transfer or paid leave under Section 12.
- Recommend disciplinary action under Section 13 upon a finding of harassment.
The LC has one additional pathway. Section 10 allows conciliation at the complainant’s request, though monetary settlement is not permitted as a condition.
Timelines
The Act prescribes identical statutory clocks for both forums:
- Inquiry completion: 90 days from the date of complaint.
- Action on recommendations: 60 days, by the employer for the IC and by the District Officer for the LC.
- Appeals: Under Section 18, within 90 days of the decision.
In practice, IC inquiries are typically faster and better-resourced. LC inquiries can stretch when committee meetings are infrequent.
Where Local Committees Are Struggling
The IC framework, despite documented gaps, has the backing of corporate compliance machinery. The LC framework doesn’t. A Martha Farrell Foundation RTI exercise across 655 districts found only 29% had constituted Local Committees, while 15% explicitly said they hadn’t.
Similarly, a 2026 LiveLaw analysis noted that LCs in several districts are either not properly constituted or lack visibility.
Awareness Gaps
Most women in the unorganised sector don’t know an LC exists. Even where LCs are constituted in rural districts, they receive almost no complaints, because the women they are meant to protect have never heard of them.
Infrastructure Limitations
LCs typically lack dedicated offices, support staff, or published records. The Supreme Court’s August 2025 directions in the Aureliano Fernandes line of orders required states to upload LC details to SHe-Box, but compliance remains uneven.
Staffing Concerns
Members are often nominated on a part-time, honorary basis with limited training and minimal fees. The result is a body that meets irregularly, often only when a complaint arrives, and rarely undertakes proactive outreach.
What Employers and Employees Should Keep in Mind
The legal architecture is fixed. What employers and employees can control is how they prepare for and navigate it.
Escalation Routes
Employees should know the IC is not the only forum. If the respondent is the employer, or if the IC is compromised, the LC is the lawful alternative. SHe-Box is a third entry point, useful when local LC details aren’t easily accessible. Section 18 allows appeals against either committee’s decision within 90 days.
Documentation
Complainants should preserve contemporaneous evidence: dated messages, emails, witness names, and earlier verbal complaints. Inquiry outcomes hinge on documentary trails. Employers should maintain inquiry records, minutes, and Section 21 annual reports, which now feed into the Board’s disclosure of reports under the MCA framework.
Support Mechanisms
Both sides have distinct responsibilities and entitlements.
Employers should ensure:
- IC members are trained, and refresher orientation is conducted regularly.
- The external member is genuinely independent of the organisation.
- Complaints can be filed through multiple channels, including a written register and email.
- Interim protection under Section 12 is offered without the complainant having to ask.
Employees should know they have:
- The right to representation during the inquiry.
- The right to confidentiality under Section 16, with penalties for breach.
- Protection from retaliation under Section 19, covering transfers, demotions, or adverse appraisals linked to the complaint.
In the End…
The IC and the LC aren’t competing forums. They are designed to plug each other’s gaps. The IC handles workplaces where the employer can be trusted to act as a neutral facilitator. The LC handles workplaces where that trust isn’t structurally possible, because the workplace is too small, too informal, or too compromised. Knowing which one applies determines whether the complainant gets a fair hearing or a hollow one.
The TCS Nashik investigation, the X v. Akademi ruling, and the Supreme Court’s direction on state-wise IC and LC surveys have made one thing clear: jurisdictional clarity under POSH is no longer theoretical. It is the threshold question on which the inquiry, the recommendation, and the accountability ultimately rest.
FAQs
What is the main difference between an Internal Committee and a Local Committee under the POSH Act?
The Internal Committee (IC) is constituted by the employer under Section 4 and operates within a single workplace with ten or more employees. The Local Committee (LC) is constituted by the District Officer under Section 6 and operates at the district level, covering workplaces with fewer than ten employees, complaints against the employer, and situations where no IC exists.
When should a POSH complaint be filed with the Local Committee instead of the IC?
A complaint should go to the LC in three situations: when the workplace has fewer than ten employees, when the complaint is against the employer, or when the employer has failed to constitute an IC despite the legal requirement.
Can a POSH complaint be filed against the employer directly?
Yes. When the respondent is the employer, the IC structurally cannot hear the complaint because it reports to the same person being accused. In such cases, the Local Committee has jurisdiction. The Delhi High Court reaffirmed this principle in X v. Akademi.
What is the time limit for filing a POSH complaint?
A complaint must be filed in writing within three months of the incident, with a possible extension of another three months for sufficient cause, as provided under Section 9 of the POSH Act.
What is SHe-Box and how does it relate to IC and LC complaints?
SHe-Box is the central government’s online portal for filing sexual harassment complaints. It auto-forwards complaints to the appropriate committee, whether an IC or LC. As of March 2026, over 1,61,000 workplaces had registered on the portal.
How long does a POSH inquiry take?
Both the IC and LC must complete the inquiry within 90 days of receiving the complaint. The employer or District Officer must then act on the recommendations within 60 days, as prescribed under Section 13.
Who can be a member of a Local Committee?
Under Section 7, the LC must have at least five members nominated by the District Officer, including a Chairperson who is an eminent woman from social work, one local-level woman member, two NGO or expert members (at least one a woman, preferably with legal background), and an ex officio member from the district’s social welfare or women and child development office. At least one member must be from the SC, ST, OBC, or notified minority community.
Can a POSH committee’s decision be appealed?
Yes. Section 18 of the POSH Act allows either party to appeal the decision of the IC or LC within 90 days of the recommendation being communicated.
