Top PSUs fined for failure to appoint Independent & Women Directors
State-owned oil and gas giants including IndianOil, ONGC and GAIL (India) Ltd have been slapped with fines for the fourth straight quarter for failing to meet listing requirements of having the requisite number of directors on their board. Stock exchanges imposed a cumulative fine of Rs.34 lakh on oil refining and fuel marketing giants Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), explorers Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL), gas utility GAIL, and refiner Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) for not meeting the listing requirement in the January-March quarter. In separate filings, the companies detailed the fines imposed by the BSE and NSE for either not having the requisite number of independent directors or the mandated women director in the quarter ended March 31, 2024 (fourth quarter of 2023-24 fiscal year), but were quick to point out that appointment of directors was done by the government and they had no role in it.
Listing norms require companies to have independent directors in the same proportion as executive or functional directors. They are also required to have at least one woman director on the board.
