After reviewing 100+ BRSR filings across sectors, we identified the 10 most common mistakes that companies make. Fixing these can significantly improve your BRSR quality and ESG ratings.
1. Inconsistent Reporting Boundaries
Companies often report different entities across sections — including subsidiaries in financial data but excluding them from environmental metrics. BRSR requires consistent boundaries throughout the report.
2. Wrong Emission Factors
Using outdated or generic emission factors instead of India-specific ones. Always use the latest CEA grid emission factor for Scope 2 and IPCC 2006/2019 for Scope 1.
3. Confusing Employees and Workers
BRSR distinguishes between employees (direct payroll) and workers (contract, temporary, outsourced). Many companies merge these categories, leading to incorrect headcount and safety data.
4. Missing Value Chain Data
Leadership indicators ask about supply chain ESG practices. Companies often leave these blank instead of reporting even partial data. Any disclosure is better than none.
5. Incorrect Water Balance
Water withdrawal minus water discharge should approximately equal water consumption. Many filings show numbers that do not balance, indicating measurement errors.
6. Safety Metrics Miscalculation
LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate) calculations often use inconsistent denominators. BRSR expects per-million man-hours worked.
7. Generic Policies Without Evidence
Section B asks about policies for each principle. Stating “Yes” without evidence of implementation undermines credibility during assurance.
8. Not Reporting in Required Units
BRSR specifies units for each metric (e.g., KL for water, MT for waste, tCO2e for emissions). Using different units or not specifying units is a common error.
9. Ignoring Leadership Indicators
Leadership indicators are voluntary but increasingly evaluated by ESG rating agencies. Reporting even a few leadership indicators demonstrates maturity.
10. Last-Minute Filing Without Review
BRSR data should be reviewed for internal consistency before filing. Our Pre-Assurance Validator checks 200 rules to catch errors before your assurer does.
Avoid these mistakes: check your readiness now.