BRSR for IT Services and BPM Companies — Material Disclosures, Hybrid Workforce, and Sector-Specific Evidence

Why this guide exists

Indian IT services and BPM entities sit in a distinctive position within the Top 1,000 listed-entity cohort. Many large IT services companies are within BRSR scope, subject to the applicable SEBI phase-in schedule. The sectoral profile commonly observed in IT services BRSR disclosures differs from manufacturing or financial services patterns — typically lower Scope 1 emissions per ₹ of revenue, large hybrid workforce, distributed delivery-centre footprint across multiple cities, significant cloud / SaaS spend that is commonly material under Scope 3 Cat 1, and a gender-diversity baseline that is often stronger than the broader Top 1,000 average. These are sectoral patterns observed in practice, not entity-level certainties.

This guide walks through common BRSR disclosure patterns observed for Indian IT services entities — the BRSR Core attributes that tend to be most material in practice, the hybrid-workforce implications across multiple Section A and Section B disclosures, the Section A patterns specific to IT services, and the Scope 3 Leadership disclosure considerations.

This guide describes common BRSR disclosure patterns for IT services and BPM entities, but entity-level materiality, current SEBI phase-in applicability, and the assurance standard applied should always be confirmed for the specific listed entity.

The IT services profile within the Top 1,000

Common sectoral features observed in Indian IT services / BPM BRSR disclosures (these shape the disclosure profile in practice but are not a SEBI-prescribed sector taxonomy):

• Service-sector NIC classification — typically NIC 62 / 63 series (computer programming, consultancy, data processing), with limited goods-side disclosure
• Distributed delivery-centre footprint — operations commonly span Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 cities; material for the Section A operations disclosure and for the BRSR Core Job Creation in Smaller Towns attribute
• Large hybrid / remote workforce — post-pandemic, structural hybrid arrangements are commonly observed across the IT services sector. NASSCOM and industry sources noted significant remote-work share during the pandemic; current arrangements vary materially by entity
• Significant cloud and SaaS spend — many IT services entities run material workloads on public cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP); cloud / SaaS spend is commonly material under Scope 3 Cat 1 (a sector inference from observed inventories, not a BRSR rule)
• CSR spend — Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 commonly applies to large IT services entities given their financial position; the Section A CSR block is typically substantive when applicable. Refer to Section 135 of the Companies Act and applicable Companies (CSR Policy) Rules for the specific applicability tests.
• Gender diversity profile — Indian IT services has a relatively strong gender-diversity baseline compared to several other sectors, though the picture varies by level (entry-level vs senior leadership) and the BRSR-disclosed metrics are entity-specific

The above are common sectoral patterns observed in practice, not entity-level certainties. Entity-level variance within the IT services sector is wide; the materiality assessment for any specific entity should drive the disclosure focus (see the Materiality Assessment Walkthrough).

BRSR Core attributes — disclosure focus areas commonly observed for IT services

The list below describes disclosure-effort focus areas commonly observed in IT services BRSR Core preparation. None of the focus areas below is uniquely material to IT services as a SEBI rule — the materiality call always rests on the entity’s documented materiality framework. These are common-practice observations, not entity-level certainties.

Principle 6 (Environment) — typically the most disclosure-effort-heavy block

• GHG emission intensity per revenue (Scope 1 + 2) — for IT services, the dominant driver is purchased electricity for offices, data centres, and delivery centres (Scope 2). Scope 1 is typically smaller (DG sets, refrigerant top-ups, company-owned vehicle fleet where applicable). The PPP-adjusted revenue denominator applies. The data-collection effort sits in utility-bill aggregation across many delivery-centre locations and the location-based Scope 2 calculation using the applicable CEA grid emission factors. See the GHG Emission Intensity per Revenue methodology page for the calculation discipline.
• Water withdrawal intensity — generally lower in absolute terms than manufacturing peers; the disclosure-effort focus is office water consumption (municipal supply + groundwater where applicable). The intensity-per-revenue framing makes the absolute volume look small but the disclosure is still required.
• Scope 3 (Leadership) — voluntary disclosure; for IT services, the typical material categories are Cat 1 (purchased goods and services — cloud, SaaS, contracted services), Cat 6 (business travel — client visits, internal travel), Cat 7 (employee commuting — hybrid-affected). See the Scope 3 for Service Companies guide for the calculation discipline.

Principle 3 (Employees) — workforce-disclosure-effort-heavy block

• Female wages disclosure — the BRSR Core attribute requires gross wages paid to women as a percentage of total wages. For IT services, this is sourced from the payroll register with the BRSR employee + worker categorisation applied consistently. The mapping convention from the entity’s payroll categories to the BRSR taxonomy is the key working paper.
• Spend on wellbeing — IT services entities typically have richer wellbeing programs (group health insurance, employee assistance programs, mental-health support, fitness benefits). The disclosed value sources from the payroll / benefits administration system.
• Section B / Principle 3 essential indicators — gender split, training hours, retention, accident / occupational health metrics — also material disclosure-effort.

Principle 5 (Human Rights) — typically lower disclosure-effort-block

• For IT services, the Section A complaints data (POSH, consumer, whistle-blower, NGRBC-Principle-aggregated) is the substantive disclosure under the human-rights cluster. None of the BRSR Core attributes sit under Principle 5 directly.

Principle 8 (Inclusive Growth) — moderate disclosure-effort-block

• Job creation in smaller towns — for IT services entities with Tier 2 / Tier 3 delivery-centre footprint, this Core attribute is materially affected by the delivery-centre mix. The wage-cost basis (per the latest SEBI text — refer to Annexure I of BRSR Core for the prescribed convention) determines how the smaller-towns share is computed. Entities with concentrated Tier 1 footprints will disclose a lower share than entities with material Tier 2 / Tier 3 operations.

Principle 1 (Ethics, Transparency, Accountability) — typically substantive narrative

• Openness of business — the multi-component BRSR Core attribute under Principle 1 (covering Related-Party Transactions, audit-related disclosures, and complaints / governance disclosures across NGRBC Principles). For IT services, the RPT scope is typically straightforward (intra-group services, infra leases between subsidiaries), but the multi-component computation requires careful working-paper assembly. See the Openness of Business methodology page.

Principle 9 (Customer Value) — typically narrative-heavy, low quantitative

• For IT services, customer-value disclosures focus on data-privacy, cyber-security, service-quality metrics. None of the BRSR Core attributes sit under Principle 9 directly.

Hybrid workforce — implications across multiple disclosures

The structural hybrid-workforce arrangement common in Indian IT services has implications across several BRSR disclosures. These are commonly observed patterns, not a SEBI-prescribed sector treatment.

Hybrid work does not change headcount reporting itself, but it can materially affect commuting-related disclosures, location splits, category mix in the workforce table, facility-energy reconciliation, and wellbeing-program delivery. The methodology applied to each affected disclosure is a workflow choice the entity documents — none of the treatments below is SEBI-prescribed.

Section A — workforce counts

Hybrid does not change headcount; the Section A workforce count is sourced from the year-end HRIS extract. The gender-split, location-split, and contractual-vs-permanent breakdowns may need year-on-year disclosure context where the workforce composition has shifted materially as a consequence of policy changes.

Section B / Principle 6 — facility energy consumption

Office occupancy patterns under hybrid can materially affect Scope 1 + 2 facility energy consumption. Year-on-year comparability discussion benefits from disclosure of the basis (office portfolio composition, hours of operation, season-mix). Where the comparability basis has shifted (e.g., consolidation of delivery centres, shift to 24x7 operations for certain client work), the disclosure should make the basis explicit.

Scope 3 Cat 7 — employee commuting

Materially affected by hybrid work. The methodology choice for handling work-from-home energy is itself a methodology decision area, not a settled convention — different entities take different approaches (keeping WFH energy within Cat 7, applying a leased-asset analogy under Cat 8, or excluding with disclosure). The BRSR format itself does not specify the treatment. Whichever choice the entity makes should be documented, applied consistently, and explained clearly in the disclosure footnote alongside a summary of the underlying hybrid-work policy. See the Scope 3 for Service Companies guide for the detailed methodology discussion.

Wellbeing spend, training, occupational health

Hybrid can affect how entities deliver wellbeing programs, training, and occupational health monitoring, with potential year-on-year shifts in spend, delivery mode, and reach. The disclosed values typically come from the payroll / benefits / L&D systems and may need year-on-year context where delivery has shifted.

Section A patterns specific to IT services

Drawing on the commonly observed patterns from BRSR Section A engagements for IT services entities (refer to the BRSR Section A Pre-fill Workflow guide for the general workflow):

• Products / services breakdown — typically maps to a small number of NIC service-sector codes (NIC 62 / 63 series). The principal-services-by-turnover disclosure is usually concentrated in 1-3 service categories with an “other” bucket.
• Operations disclosure — distributed delivery-centre footprint across multiple cities; the operational locations table is typically lengthy. Tier 2 / Tier 3 city presence drives the Job Creation in Smaller Towns Core attribute.
• Subsidiary structure — IT services entities commonly have multiple Indian and overseas subsidiaries (US, UK, EU, APAC). The boundary basis applied for BRSR scope is an entity governance call. The terminology around boundary basis (“operational control”, “financial control”, “equity-share”) is internal convention drawn from adjacent reporting frameworks (GHG Protocol, Ind AS 110); the entity should not assume any particular convention is SEBI-endorsed and should refer to the latest applicable SEBI circular for any prescribed scoping basis. Document the convention applied and apply consistently across BRSR sections.
• CSR data — Section 135 typically applies given the financial profile of major IT services entities. The Section A CSR block is typically substantive, with material spend and a portfolio of Schedule VII activities. The CSR disclosure draws on the entity’s Section 135 CSR Annual Report — see the BRSR Section A Pre-fill Workflow guide.
• Workforce mapping — the HRIS rarely uses BRSR’s employee / worker categorisation natively. The mapping table from the entity’s payroll categories (Officer / Manager / Trainee / Contract, etc.) to the BRSR taxonomy is the key working paper for workforce-related BRSR Core KPIs.

Common evidence patterns observed in IT services BRSR engagements

These are examples of common practice patterns observed in IT services BRSR engagements — not SEBI-recognised categories of finding, and not entity-level certainties. Each is framed as an observation, not a categorical rule.

1. Utility-bill aggregation across delivery centres is commonly the largest single Scope 2 evidence task. Many large IT services entities operate across multiple delivery centres, each with its own utility account; aggregating monthly utility bills across a multi-centre portfolio is a multi-step exercise unless the entity already maintains a centralised utility-data warehouse. The specific scale varies entity-by-entity.

2. Cloud carbon disclosures vary by provider granularity. As an example pattern: large cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) publish per-region carbon intensity at varying granularity, while some smaller cloud / SaaS vendors publish only aggregate annual numbers or none at all. The entity’s Scope 3 Cat 1 disclosure benefits from making the data source per major vendor explicit. The composition of the cloud / SaaS vendor base is entity-specific.

3. Workforce mapping table evolves year-on-year. As the entity restructures functions, introduces new payroll categories, or rolls out new benefits programs, the mapping from payroll categories to BRSR employee / worker / wellbeing-spend taxonomies needs maintenance. The mapping table is a control recommendation, not a SEBI-prescribed artefact; year-on-year mapping consistency is itself a disclosure event.

4. Smaller-towns share is methodology-sensitive. The wage-cost basis (per the BRSR Core convention as set out in the latest SEBI text) plus the location classification reference applied (the entity’s chosen classification basis — an implementation choice, not SEBI-prescribed) drives the disclosed share. Documented methodology consistency across years is commonly expected by the assurance partner; entity-level approaches vary.

5. Hybrid-policy disclosure footnote is a year-on-year continuity tool. Where the hybrid policy has changed (e.g., minimum office days increased / decreased, mandatory return-to-office for certain roles), the policy summary in the disclosure footnote can provide year-on-year continuity for the assurance partner and for external readers. This is a common practice convention, not a SEBI requirement.

6. Subsidiary boundary application can vary across BRSR sections. Subsidiary inclusion in Section A but exclusion from a specific Core attribute (or vice versa) is one of the patterns flagged in the Audit Evidence Documentation guide Pattern 4. A single boundary-basis register applied consistently across all BRSR sections is the common remediation.

7. Cross-portal filing for dual-listed IT services entities. Many major Indian IT services entities are listed on both NSE and BSE; the BRSR submission is filed on both exchange portals (NEAPS and BSE Listing Centre). DSC pre-validation on each portal is the practical pre-filing step — see the DSC Signing for BRSR Reports guide.

Cross-sector context — IT services vs other sectors

The table below is descriptive analyst context for navigating cross-sector BRSR patterns — not a SEBI-prescribed sector taxonomy or a benchmark for any specific entity’s disclosure. Entity-level disclosure should rest on the entity’s own materiality assessment.

Aspect	IT services / BPM	Manufacturing	Banking & NBFCs	FMCG
Scope 1 emissions intensity	Low (DG sets, fleet, refrigerant)	Moderate to high (process, fuel)	Low (offices, fleet)	Moderate (production, fleet)
Scope 2 emissions intensity	Moderate (offices, data centres)	High (process electricity)	Low to moderate (offices)	Moderate (manufacturing electricity)
Scope 3 dominant categories	Cat 1 (cloud), 6 (travel), 7 (commuting)	Cat 1 (raw materials), 4 (transport), 11 (use of sold products)	Cat 15 (financed emissions, dominant)	Cat 1 (raw materials), 4 (transport), 12 (end-of-life)
Water intensity	Low (offices)	High (process, cooling)	Low	Moderate to high (process)
Workforce profile	High knowledge-worker, hybrid-heavy	Mix of knowledge and operational; lower hybrid	Branch + back-office; moderate hybrid	Manufacturing + sales; lower hybrid
Smaller-towns share	Variable (Tier 2 / 3 delivery centres)	Often plant-driven (rural / industrial-zone)	Branch network drives share	Plant + distribution network drives share
Gender diversity baseline	Generally stronger	Generally weaker	Moderate	Moderate
Section 135 CSR applicability	Almost always applies	Almost always applies	Almost always applies	Almost always applies

The table above is analyst context, not a SEBI sector taxonomy or reporting standard. Sectoral patterns shift across reporting cycles and within-sector entity-level variance is wide.

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Where Batchwise fits (service description — separate from the regulatory profile above)

The sections above describe the BRSR regulatory profile and disclosure considerations for IT services and BPM entities — content that any entity preparing BRSR for an IT services business would consider regardless of tooling.

The section below describes Batchwise’s service for IT services entities. The two are deliberately kept separate so readers can distinguish what BRSR for IT services involves from what Batchwise does.

Batchwise is a workflow and data-preparation service layered over the BRSR framework — not part of the framework itself. The entity remains responsible for the BRSR submission and sign-off; the partner CA firm remains responsible for the assurance opinion.

For IT services and BPM entities, Batchwise’s role is support across the data-preparation workflow under management’s responsibility and typically covers:

• Multi-delivery-centre utility-bill aggregation — supporting structured aggregation of monthly utility bills across the entity’s delivery-centre portfolio for the Scope 2 calculation, with audit-trail
• Workforce mapping table — supporting the HRIS-to-BRSR-taxonomy mapping that underpins the female wages disclosure, spend on wellbeing, and Section A workforce blocks
• Cloud carbon disclosure structuring — supporting the pull of cloud / SaaS vendor carbon disclosures into the Scope 3 Cat 1 calculation, with vendor-by-vendor data-source documentation
• Hybrid-policy footnote drafting support — drafting support for the hybrid-policy summary footnote that the entity reviews and finalises
• Section A pre-fill across distributed entity structure — supporting the Section A reconciliation across MCA21, Annual Report, GST sales register, payroll, Section 135 CSR Annual Report (refer to the BRSR Section A Pre-fill Workflow guide for the general workflow)
• BRSR Core assurance coordination support — operational support for partner CA firm engagement coordination; the assurance procedures and assurance responsibility remain entirely with the partner CA firm

The signed BRSR is the entity’s submission, signed by the entity’s authorised signatory under the entity’s authorised-signatory DSC. The assurance opinion is a separate signed artefact — it is the partner CA firm’s output, on the partner CA firm’s letterhead, under the partner CA firm’s signing partner’s DSC. The entity’s authorised signatory does not sign the assurance opinion. Batchwise’s role is workflow and data-preparation support; management retains responsibility for the BRSR content, and the partner CA firm retains responsibility for the assurance opinion.

What this guide captures and what it doesn’t

Captures:

• The IT services / BPM sectoral profile within the Top 1,000 listed-entity cohort
• BRSR Core attribute focus areas commonly observed for IT services
• Hybrid-workforce implications across Section A, Section B / Principle 6, Scope 3 Cat 7, and wellbeing disclosures
• Section A patterns specific to IT services (NIC service codes, distributed operations, subsidiary structure)
• Common evidence patterns observed in IT services BRSR engagements
• Cross-sector context vs manufacturing / banking / FMCG

Doesn’t capture:

• Per-entity entity-level disclosure detail — refer to the published BRSR submissions of specific IT services entities for entity-specific patterns
• Detailed Scope 3 methodology — see Scope 3 Emissions for Service Companies
• Section A pre-fill workflow detail — see BRSR Section A Pre-fill Workflow
• Sector-specific emerging frameworks (NASSCOM ESG benchmarks, CDP technology-sector guidance, etc.) — Phase C will publish a separate page where commercially relevant

Related reading

• BRSR Section A Pre-fill Workflow — Section A reconciliation across source systems
• Scope 3 Emissions for Service Companies — Cat 1 / 6 / 7 methodology for service-sector entities
• Audit Evidence Documentation for BRSR — working-paper discipline applicable across sectors
• DSC Signing for BRSR Reports — the filing-event mechanics
• NGRBC Principle 6 — Environment — the most disclosure-heavy principle for IT services
• Job Creation in Smaller Towns — the Core attribute most affected by Tier 2 / Tier 3 delivery-centre footprint
• Female Wages Disclosure — the gender-diversity Core attribute
• BRSR Core Assurance Service — Batchwise’s BRSR Core engagement scope