Parliament passes CA Bill, seeks greater robustness and accountability in India’s audting standards 

The Parliament has approved a Bill to revamp the functioning of the institutes of chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretaries, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserting that the changes will not impact the autonomy of these bodies.

 Rajya Sabha passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with a voice vote on Tuesday, after negating all amendments moved by the Opposition.

 The legislation seeks to appoint non-Chartered Accountant (CA), non-cost accountant and non-company secretary as the presiding officer of the disciplinary committees of the respective institutes.

The three institutes are the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Cost Accountants of India (formerly known as ICWAI), and Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

The bill amends the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959, and the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.

Among other things, the bill provides for the setting up of a coordination committee headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It will have representations from the three institutes.

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