Question · EcoVadis · India
Which Indian statutory documents count as EcoVadis evidence?
The permits and returns an Indian plant already files serve as EcoVadis evidence when they are current and name the assessed entity and unit: a Pollution Control Board Consent to Operate, a hazardous waste authorisation with its Form 4 return, EPR registrations, a groundwater NOC, a factory licence, a fire NOC, a POSH Internal Committee order and PF/ESI challans. Each carries an issuer, your entity name and a date. Upload each with the records its own conditions require, and put an English summary in front of any document in Hindi or a state language.
Ten documents, the criterion each serves, and the fix
Form numbers, validity periods and renewal cycles vary by state. Check your state's current rule for each unit.
| Document | Theme and criterion | Why it fails | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consent to Establish / Consent to Operate (State Pollution Control Board, Water Act 1974 and Air Act 1981) | Environment: local and accidental pollution, water | Expired with the renewal pending; names an old address or another legal entity; the monitoring uploaded does not match the consent's conditions | The current order, plus the renewal acknowledgement if renewal is in process. Match name and address to your EcoVadis scope. |
| Stack, effluent and ambient monitoring reports | Environment: local and accidental pollution | The lab is not MoEFCC-recognised or NABL-accredited for those parameters; parameters differ from the consent list; reports older than two years | The last 4 to 8 reports at the consent's frequency, a one-page trend table against the consent limits, and the lab's recognition certificate. |
| Hazardous waste authorisation, Form 3 register, Form 4 annual return, Form 10 manifests | Environment: materials, chemicals and waste | No authorisation for a small stream such as used oil, spent solvent or ETP sludge; waste categories on the authorisation differ from the Form 4 return; manifests held only by the transporter | The authorisation, the latest Form 4 (due 30 June), sample Form 10 copies and the recycler's or TSDF's authorisation, with quantities reconciled across all of them. |
| EPR registration and annual return (plastic packaging, e-waste, batteries) | Environment: product end-of-life | A component maker that places plastic packaging or batteries on the market never registered; registration lapsed after the first year; the return shows zero because no certificates were bought | The CPCB registration certificate, the latest annual return (due 30 June) and the EPR certificate purchase ledger. Plastic and e-waste registrations are renewed 120 days before expiry. |
| Groundwater NOC (CGWA, or the state authority where one exists) | Environment: water | A borewell with no NOC; a permitted quantity below what the meter shows; no flow meter, so the water figures are estimates | The NOC, the latest compliance report, meter logs and a water balance. Renewal is filed 90 days before expiry with the compliance report. |
| Factory licence, stability certificate, competent-person reports (pressure vessels, lifts, hoists) | Labour and Human Rights: employee health and safety | The licence shows fewer workers or less horsepower than the plant runs; a competent person's recognition has lapsed; a PPE photo uploaded in place of the statutory examinations | The current licence, the stability certificate and the latest competent-person reports, with a one-page index naming the state rule and form for each. |
| Fire NOC or fire-safety certificate | Labour and Human Rights: employee health and safety | The original occupancy-stage NOC from years ago; Maharashtra's twice-yearly Form B missing or signed by an unlicensed agency; no mock-drill records | The current NOC or latest Form B, the agency's licence and two drill records, with the state's renewal cycle in a cover note. |
| POSH Internal Committee order and annual report (Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013) | Labour and Human Rights: diversity, equity and inclusion | The committee order is older than three years; no external member; no annual report filed; a committee at head office only | The latest dated, signed order for each unit, the policy, the last annual report acknowledgement and training records. Reconstitute every three years. |
| PF and ESI registrations and ECR challans | Labour and Human Rights: working conditions | Contract workers untraceable (no ESIC codes or UANs); challans for another unit's code; registers covering less than the headcount declared to EcoVadis | Three recent ECR challans and the registration certificates for the assessed unit, each contractor's ECRs for the same months, and headcount reconciled to your scope. |
| Any of the above in Hindi or a state language | Whichever criterion the document serves | Hindi and other Indian languages are outside EcoVadis's platform languages; a scanned PDF cannot be machine-translated | A one-page English summary (issuer, date, validity, scope, key conditions) as page 1 of the same PDF, with the original behind it. |
The theme and criterion mapping is ClimateFluent's own, using EcoVadis's criterion names. The failure reasons and fixes come from the regulator and practitioner sources below.
How to present a statutory document
- One document per upload. EcoVadis rejects merged files. A consent order and its renewal acknowledgement are two uploads, linked to the same answer.
- A digital PDF with selectable text. A phone photo of a consent order, a password-protected PDF or a scan with no text layer is unreadable to the analyst.
- Name the units it covers. A consent for Unit 2 evidences Unit 2. Build a scope table of legal entity and units, and explain any old company name printed on an order.
- Show the conditions are met. A consent or NOC sets monitoring, metering or return obligations. Upload the reports that meet them at the frequency it sets.
- Keep sets reconciled. Hazardous waste quantities should agree across the Form 3 register, the Form 10 manifests and the Form 4 return before any of them is uploaded.
- Link each file to the option it proves, with the page number.
Check your files before you submit
Upload your EcoVadis questionnaire export and your statutory documents to the free evidence check. ClimateFluent checks each file against EcoVadis's own document guide, including entity and unit match and language, and lists each file likely to be rejected with the rule and the fix.
Check your EcoVadis evidence free
How it works, step by step: the evidence check docs.
Common questions
Does an expired Consent to Operate count if the renewal is pending?
EcoVadis counts a certificate until its expiry date. Upload the current consent order, and when a renewal is in process, upload the renewal acknowledgement from the State Pollution Control Board with it.
Can one unit's consent or licence evidence the whole company?
No. A consent, licence or certificate for Unit 2 evidences Unit 2. Label each document with the units it covers, upload one for each unit in your assessed scope, and explain any old company name or other legal entity printed on it.
Is a POSH Internal Committee order still valid after three years?
Internal Committee members serve at most three years under the POSH Act 2013. Reconstitute the committee when the term ends and upload the new dated, signed order for each unit, with the last annual report acknowledgement.
Are statutory documents in Hindi or a state language accepted?
Hindi and other Indian languages are outside EcoVadis's platform languages, and a scanned PDF cannot be machine-translated. Put a one-page English summary (issuer, date, validity, scope, key conditions) as page 1 of the same PDF, with the original behind it.
Related questions
- What does EcoVadis ask for? The four themes, 21 criteria and Indian example documents.
- Why does EcoVadis reject supporting documents? Eleven reasons, with the fix for each.
- What changed in EcoVadis document rules in 2026?
- Can ChatGPT or Claude check EcoVadis evidence?
- EcoVadis evidence check and its docs
Sources
- EcoVadis, Complete Document Guide v1.1, 1 August 2026, section 3 (validity, merged and unreadable files): resources.ecovadis.com
- EcoVadis, supported languages: support.ecovadis.com
- EcoVadis support, assessed entity and scope: support.ecovadis.com; Nexio Projects, entity and group assessments: nexioprojects.com
- Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, environmental consent process, March 2025: cyrilamarchandblogs.com
- CPCB stack monitoring guidance, summarised by The Sustainability Cloud: thesustainabilitycloud.com
- Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules 2016, authorisation, Form 4 and manifests: myndsolution.com; Form 10 manifest, Puducherry PCC: dste.py.gov.in
- EPR registration and renewal: incorpx.io, seyecs.com; CPCB sample e-waste EPR certificate: cpcb.nic.in
- CGWA guidelines: thesustainabilitycloud.com; CGWA renewal application form: cgwa-noc.gov.in
- Factories: Directorate of Factories and Boilers, Odisha: dfb.odisha.gov.in; Factories and Boilers, Kerala, forms: fabkerala.gov.in
- Maharashtra Fire Services, renewal of fire approval: mahafireservice.gov.in
- POSH Internal Committee: incorpx.io, mmjc.in, Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan
- CAG Report No. 19 of 2018, contract labour PF and ESI: cag.gov.in
Guidance, not advice. Independent of EcoVadis: ClimateFluent prepares your evidence; EcoVadis does the rating. EcoVadis is a trade mark of EcoVadis SAS.