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Companies that have failed to appoint at least one woman director on their board will have to pay a fine of at least Rs 50,000.The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in a circular asked stock exchanges to levy Rs 50,000 penalty on listed entities that comply with the requirement between April 1 and June 30, 2015. The deadline for appointing one female board member had ended on March 31, 2015. Companies which comply between July and September 2015, will be imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 and an additional fine of Rs 1,000 a day till the date of compliance.
Companies complying with the norms on or after October 1, 2015 will have to pay Rs 1.42 lakh along with an additional charge of Rs 5,000 a day till the date of compliance, according to the Sebi circular. "For any non-compliance beyond September 30, 2015, Sebi may take any other action, against the non-compliant entities, their promoters and/or directors or issue such directions in accordance with law, as considered appropriate," said the Sebi in a circular.
According to a recent report by Prime database, 180 companies on the National Stock Exchange had failed to comply.
Of these, 32 firms were state-owned companies including GAIL, ONGC, Punjab National Bank, NTPC and SAIL.
