Bharti Airtel tops corporate transparency list

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel on Monday said that it has been ranked first in a listing of 100 emerging market multinational companies as part of a study on corporate transparency and reporting by Transparency International.

Bharti Airtel topped the list with a score of 7.3.

In the latest edition of Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing Emerging Market Multinationals, 100 of the fastest-growing companies based in 15 emerging market countries and operating in 185 countries around the world scored an average score of 3.4 out of 10, where 0 is the least transparent and 10 is the most transparent.

The telco was followed by Tata Communications, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Consultancy Services, and Tata Steel.

The companies were ranked on three parameters, including reporting on anti-corruption programmes, organizational transparency and country-by-country reporting.

According to Transparency International, across emerging markets all companies need to do much more to pursue comprehensive public reporting to address corruption and provide the transparency that is the basis for robust and accountable governance.

Anti-corruption programs that keep a company from using bribery as a tool or provide ways for whistleblowers to report corruption without fear of retribution must be made publicly available to send a clear message to their customers, staff and partners that a company does not accept corrupt practices.

Bharti Airtel currently has operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa. It ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.