WOMEN

DIRECTOR
UNDER-20484
(Saiprem)
cOMPANIEs
act(2013)
 BACKGRO 2

UND:
• one of the last bastions of male domination in the country’s
business landscape.
• deferred to the most powerful man in the corporate
boardroom and coteries could easily shut down dissenting
voices.
• Women board members, who were mostly relatives of the
powers that be, usually remained silent.
• India is one of the first developing countries to have
enforced a legal framework to push for greater presence of
women in company board rooms. 
Provisions of the 3

companies act:
• As per second Provision to Section 149(1) read with
Rule 3 of the 
Companies(Appointment and Qualification of directors
)Rules,2014
, following is the Criteria of Companies who need to
appoint women directors according to Companies Act,
2013 are:
1. Every Listed Company
2. Every Public Company having minimum paid up share
capital of Rs.100 crore or more
3. Every Public Company having minimum turnover of
Directors as per the 4

Companies Act 2013:

Under the Section 149(1) of the Companies Act 2013 every
company who lies under the following criteria should have
individuals as directors:
• A public company should have minimum 3 directors,
likewise a private company should have two directors, and
a one person company should have one person appointed
as a director.
• And these companies can have maximum fifteen directors.
process:
• DIN-Director Identification Number: A director
identification number is a unique director identification
number which have to be obtained by every director. Every
director can have only one DIN. Therefore, firstly women
directors need to obtain DIN to become a director.
• Consent to become a Director: Women directors need to
give the consent in form DIR-2.
• Filing of Application: Within 30 days of appointment of the
director the proposed women director has to file form DIR-12
with the registrar of companies
 6

Role and responsibilities:

responsible for improving corporate credibility and also to
improve governance standards of the company.

Tenure:
• till the next Annual general meeting from the date of her
appointment.
• can seek reappointment in the meeting. The tenure of
women director also depends on her retirement as any
other director. A women director also can resign at any
time she wishes giving a notice to the company.
Intermittent vacancy:
An intermittent vacancy occurs when a women director
leave the company due to the following reasons:
• Resignation
• Removal
• Automatic vacancy
• Retirement by rotation
In case of intermittent vacancy of woman director the same
has to be filled-up by the Board at the earliest but not later
than immediate next Board meeting or three months from
the date of such vacancy whichever is later.
 Penalty for Non-Compliance:
Penalty for non-compliance of appointment of women
director is not mentioned separately, the punishment
prescribed under Section 172 shall be applicable. Non
compliance of the appointment of a woman director, the
followings are the punishment:
• The Company; and
• Every Officer of the company who is in default
shall be punishable with fine which shall not be less than
fifty thousand rupees (Rs. 50,000/-) but which may extend to
five lakh rupees (Rs. 5,00,000/-)
Need for a woman director?
•  increasing production and sales and also enhances the
companies corporate social responsibility.
• companies with a woman as directors have a greater
return on equity i.e 4.4% while companies having only
men on the board has a rise on ROE of 1.8% on an
average per year.
• better Financial results
• better diligence in decision making and risk
management
• gender diversity as a strategy
• good governance
WOMEN ON BOARD
• CHANDA KOCHHAR- responsible for implementing and
following the strategy that enabled the bank to come out of a
period of great crises. Under her leadership, ICICI became
the largest privately owned bank with assets worth almost
$80 billion.
• SHIKHA SHARMA- Since her appointment to the post, the
bank’s stock has appreciated by a phenomenal 90%, is also
the Chairperson of Axis Asset Management Company
Limited, Chairperson of Axis Bank UK limited, Axis Capital
Limited and Axis Private Equity Limited.
• MALLIKA SRINIVASAN- the company’s revenues went
from Rs. 85 crore back then; to over Rs 8,000 crore today.
WOMEN ON BOARD
• ARUNA JAYANTHI- the current Chairperson of Board of
Governors of National Institute of Technology Calicut.
Jayanthi is considered to be one of the most successful Indian
women in the tech sector and is also an executive council
member of the industry body NASSCOM.
• CHITRA RAMAKRISHNA- first woman managing director
and chief executive officer of the National Stock
Exchange(NSE), also a part of CII’s National Council on
Financial Sector Development, FICCI’s National Executive
Committee and Capital Markets Committee. NSE has grown
tremendously under her leadership and currently reaches out
to more than 1,500 locations in the country.
WHAT NEXT?
• Companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and the
Essar Group have introduced woman directors from
academic & research institutions so that they can add value
to their companies and work diligently.
• Companies such as Apollo, Asian Paints, Reliance industries
have appointed a woman member from their families on the
board to comply with the law so, in order to avoid this, the
committee came up with the recommendation of woman
independent director on the board.
 Conclusion:
• Women empowerment is not something where a woman
can merely play a simple role in a corporate but should be
a part the higher level of decision making process.
• As per the available data, European countries lead in
appointing Women as Director on a Company’s Board.
Among them, Norway stands top with 45% whereas India
holds only 4.7%.
• However, the percentage of women Directors appointed
in Indian companies is expected to increase. 
REFERENCES:
• https://taxguru.in/company-law/women-directors-companies-
act-2013.html
• https://www.legalopedia.in/company-law/appointment-of-wo
man-director-under-companies-act-2013/
• https://enterslice.com/learning/women-directors-in-india/
• https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/5-powerful-women-directo
rs-in-indian-companies/