Section C of the BRSR carries the principle-wise performance disclosures. It is organised as nine blocks, one for each principle of the National Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct, and each block is split into essential indicators, which are mandatory, and leadership indicators, which are voluntary.
Section C is the largest and most demanding part of the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report. Sections A and B describe the entity and its policies; Section C reports what actually happened.
The nine blocks
Each block maps to one principle, and asks for the indicators that operationalise it:
- Principle 1, ethics: anti-corruption and conflict-of-interest data
- Principle 2, sustainable and safe goods and services: product life-cycle and safety data
- Principle 3, employee wellbeing: workforce wellbeing, safety and benefits data
- Principle 4, stakeholder responsiveness: stakeholder identification and engagement
- Principle 5, human rights: human-rights due diligence, wages and grievance data
- Principle 6, environment: energy, emissions, water, waste and biodiversity data
- Principle 7, policy advocacy: trade and industry chamber affiliations and advocacy positions
- Principle 8, inclusive growth: social impact, inclusive sourcing and corporate social responsibility data
- Principle 9, consumer value: consumer complaints, product labelling and data privacy
The two tiers inside every block
Within each of the nine blocks the indicators split into two tiers. Essential indicators are mandatory to report. Leadership indicators are voluntary and signal a more advanced level of responsible business practice. An entity can therefore be fully compliant on the essential tier of all nine principles while answering only selected leadership questions.
Where assurance lands
The BRSR Core indicators that require reasonable assurance or third-party assessment are drawn from the essential indicators, chiefly under Principle 6 for environment, and also under Principles 3, 5, 8, 9 and 1. They are not drawn from the leadership tier. Preparation effort therefore concentrates on essential-tier data quality.
Sources: SEBI BRSR format, Annexure I
The BRSR guide sets out all nine principles in full. BRSR reporting services covers Section C data systems and assurance readiness.