Business responsibility reports mandatory for top 1,000 listed companies: SEBI

For better compliance with corporate governance norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on November 20 decided to make it mandatory for top 1,000 listed companies to prepare annual business responsibility report, covering their activities related to environment and stakeholder relationships.

Presently, the business responsibility reports (BRRs) are mandatory for top 500-listed entities based on market capitalisation on the BSE and NSE.

The decision is part of larger efforts to improve corporate governance practices and more transparency in terms of reporting of various socially responsible activities carried out by the listed entities.

The board of SEBI "approved a proposal to extend the applicability of Business Responsibility Reporting to top 1,000 listed entities," the regulator said in a statement.

The key areas required to be reported by the entities include environment, social, governance and stakeholder relationships.

In December 2015, SEBI had come out with with a notification which made it applicable for top 500 listed companies, based on their market capitalisation at the end of March every year, to submit business responsibility reports. The new regulation came into force from April, 2016.

In August 2012, SEBI made business responsibility reporting compulsory for top 100 listed entities based on market capitalisation in their annual reports.