ICAI keeps board to review members services at bay

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),the regulator for the audit profession in the country which also sets the curriculum for CAs,conducts the examination and grants certification,is itself unwilling to share information about its members and the quality of services they provide with the Quality Review Board set up in 2007 to scrutinise audit […]

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI),the regulator for the audit profession in the country which also sets the curriculum for CAs,conducts the examination and grants certification,is itself unwilling to share information about its members and the quality of services they provide with the Quality Review Board set up in 2007 to scrutinise audit firms performance.

The QRB was set up two years ago to fix standards for the services provided by ICAI members,review the quality of such services including audit and guide members to improve the quality of services and ensure their adherence to the various statutory and other regulatory requirements. But the ICAI has held on to its turf and extended little cooperation to the QRB,according to the boards chairman.

Chairman of the Quality Review Board KD Gupta said besides three meetings,the ICAI had done little to facilitate the functioning of the board which was a result of the recommendations of the government-appointed Naresh Chandra committee. In the last meeting on August 31,the board had decided that statistics should be collated on the number of companies being audited by the Big Four audit firms and 10 other large Indian audit firms.

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But so far no progress has been made. The statistics have not been provided to us. We cannot proceed further without the facts. Meetings alone wont help. There is no follow-up on the decisions taken. We seriously need that, Gupta told The Indian Express. ICAI,however,said the grievances have been addressed long ago and no issues are pending. Yes,there were issues but they have been addressed eight months back. There is no difference of opinion between ICAI and the QRB. If the statistics have not been provided yet,it must be some administrative glitch and not lack of will, an ICAI representative on the board said.

The board is keen to provide certification to audit firms based on their performance. A certification will give the general public an idea about the performance of audit firms whether they are abiding by the norms of the ICAI,etc, said Gupta. But,many ICAI members are not sure if this works.

The QRB was set up in 2007 with 11 members including the chairperson. There are five government-nominated members and five representing the ICAI. At present,the government-nominated members are K P Shashidharan (CAG representative),PS Sharma (RBI representative),Usha Narayanan (Sebi representative),Jitesh Khosla (chairman,IICA) and R Vasudevan,member,CLB. Gupta said the board has been dependent on the ICAI for funding but the institute has not been cooperative. The board had to approach the Ministry of Corporate Affairs which provided it Rs 5 lakh. The ICAI has to replenish the fund once it is exhausted,as per the directions of the ministry.

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