Tata Group whistleblower complaints cross 12,000 mark in Chandrasekaran’s second term

As per the latest business developments, Internal red-flags being boosted saw a sharp climb in Tata Group firms even before the board room governance battle started at Tata Sons. These escalations led to over 12,000 whistleblower complaints being filed within the group firms since FY22 when N Chandrasekaran took over as Tata Sons Chairman for the second term, data compiled by Moneycontrol revealed.

The expansion in the number of whistleblower complaints has been very steep, especially in the last three years, as 80% of the total complaints received since FY22 have been received between FY24 and FY26. The total number of complaints hit a new high of 3,500 in FY26, data revealed. The group firms saw 3,111 complaints in FY25, 2,496 in FY24. For FY23 and FY22, the number stood at 1,668 and 1,323 respectively.

This data is based on the disclosures made by the Tata Group firms in their annual notes. Under the disclosure rules, firms are mandated to disclose the number of complaints received. The data considered by Moneycontrol includes complaints filed by employees, vendors and other stakeholders.

That stated, it does not include complaints made by market participants which often pertain to share related issues like not receiving bonus or incorrect details in share certificates etc. The data additionally doesn’t include the consumer complaints.

The data includes disclosures made by the top six listed firms of Tata Group TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consumer, Tata Power and Trent. Rest of the Tata entities do not have significant number of complaints.

These disclosures are part of Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR) which was introduced by market regulator Sebi as voluntary disclosure in FY22 and was made mandatory from FY23. Hence comparable data for Chandrasekaran’s first term is not publicly available.

The disclosures come amid a widening governance dispute between Tata Sons and the Noel Tata-led Tata Trusts, which collectively own around 66 percent of the group’s holding firm. On September 17, the Tata Sons board approved Chandrasekaran’s reappointment for a third five-year term despite Noel Tata’s opposition. The Trusts have challenged the decision, arguing that it lacked the requisite backing of their nominee directors under the firm’s Articles of Association. Tata Sons has defended the resolution’s validity, citing legal opinions supporting the board’s decision.

The tussle additionally extends to Tata Sons’ proposed stock-market stock-exchange debut and the extent of the Trusts’ involvement in its commercial decisions. Divisions within the Trusts have deepened, with trustee and Tata Sons director Venu Srinivasan seeking a Maharashtra Charity Commissioner inquiry into alleged governance lapses. In a September 24 letter, Srinivasan questioned the Trusts’ increasing involvement in identifying and negotiating commercial transactions concerning Tata Sons, alleging that such activities were inconsistent with their charitable objectives.

TCS largest contributor to whistleblower complaints

According to the data, TCS received 5,089 whistleblower complaints since FY22 accounting for roughly 40% of all the complaints. This does not come as a surprise since TCS has been involved in multiple whistleblower controversies. In 2023, a whistleblower had written to TCS management alleging some of the senior officials had been taking commissions/bribes from third-party staffing agencies in exchange for giving them hiring contracts. The letter prompted TCS to conduct an internal investigation and the probe led to termination of 16 employees and banning of six staffing agencies.

The data additionally captures the sudden surge in complaints in the succeeding years. In FY23, TCS saw 735 whistleblower complaints which surged to 1,171 in FY24, 1,329 in FY25 and 1,664 in FY26, respectively.  There have additionally been complaints pertaining to Visa fraud and how certain employees were getting preferential treatment.

Tata Steel received the second largest number of complaints, 2,646,followed by Trent accounting for 1,924 complaints. Tata Motors saw 1,112 complaints while Tata Consumer saw 849 complaints and Tata Power saw 457 complaints, data revealed.