Company directors face penalties for not having women on board - SEBI

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India will consider taking action against directors of companies that do not comply by October with a new rule requiring at least one woman to be on their board, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said on Wednesday.

SEBI had last year imposed a quota of one female director on the board of every listed firm. The deadline for compliance expired at the end of last month, after already being extended once last year.

The new rule also requires a third of boards to comprise independent directors, who are not related to the promoters or founders of the company.

The regulator said companies that do not comply by June 30 will be fined 50,000 rupees with an additional penalty falling due for every day of non compliance thereafter.

According to data combined by Prime Database, almost one third of companies listed on the National Stock Exchange still have no women directors on their board.

Directors and promoters of companies that still fail to comply with the new rule after September 30 can face additional penalties, the regulator said, without specifying what the punishment will be.

(Reporting by Himank Sharma; Editing by Greg Mahlich)