Whistleblowing Policy

Batelco has established the Whistleblowing policy to encourage and guide Stakeholders to report suspected wrongdoings. All the stakeholders have a moral duty, and it is also an expression of loyalty and good faith to report potentially fraudulent and/or unethical conduct. The Policy has been approved by the Board and Audit Committee.

A Whistleblower  (Employees, suppliers, contractors, clients or any individual) is anyone who has & reports knowledge of illegal, fraudulent, etc. activities. The act of Whistleblowing is by which an employee raises a concern that could threaten organization’s reputation.

The policy covers all the company’s stakeholders. Some examples of actions, which should be reported as a concern are cash & assets misappropriation, invoice frauds, inventory misuse, etc. However, complaints relating to employee’s personal circumstances and matters addressed under Human Resources’ disciplinary action / grievance procedures shall be Exceptions and not handled through the whistle blowing channels. The Head of Internal Audit shall be the Custodian for the all the whistleblowing reporting channels.

Whistleblower Protection

• Confidentiality : The Company shall make all reasonable efforts towards confidentiality of Whistleblower identity and obtain their permission, where disclosure is necessary. However, the Whistleblower may need to disclose identity if investigation indicates criminal activity.
• Assurance : Employees must not threaten or retaliate against the Whistleblowers. Within 12 months, Management would not initiate performance oriented disciplinary action against them without approval of the Board Audit Committee. In case of such treatment, Whistleblower should immediately inform Batelco’s Head of Internal Audit.

Guidance to Whistleblowers

The policy provides guidance towards matters that needs to be noted, cautions to be exercised and the information that could be expected from the whistleblower while reporting an incident.