Whistleblower complaint placed before audit committee: Infosys

New Delhi: India’s second-largest IT services firm Infosys on Monday said it has placed the whistleblower complaint — which alleges that the company is taking unethical steps to increase short-term revenue and profits — before its audit committee.

“The whistleblower complaint has been placed before the audit committee as per the company’s practice and will be dealt with in accordance with the company’s whistleblowers policy,” Infosys said in a statement.

According to reports, an anonymous group that calls itself “ethical employees” have written to the Infosys Board as well as American regulator US Securities and Exchange Commission with the allegations. They have claimed that they have emails and voice recordings to substantiate the same. Infosys has received whistleblower complaints in the past too, over alleged governance lapses.

Earlier, one such report had alleged wrongdoings by Infosys while buying Israeli automation technology firm Panaya. Infosys had said its internal audit committee, after investigation, had found no evidence supporting the allegations.

In 2017, Infosys had witnessed a protracted stand-off between its high profile founders and the previous management over allegations of governance lapses and issues relating to severance package doled out to former executives, including ex-CFO Rajiv Bansal.

Following the tussle, the then CEO Vishal Sikka quit followed by some board members. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani was then brought in as Chairman to steer the company. Salil Parekh joined the company in January last year as the CEO.

Infosys has also settled with SEBI the case of alleged disclosure lapses regarding payment made to Bansal earlier this year. It paid Rs 34.34 lakh to the markets regulator to settle the case.