The new year would not be so good for the Chartered Accounts in the country as the Government may notify the National Financial Reporting Authority ( NFRA ) from January itself.
NFRA is a regulator for chartered accountants (CAs) to probe on financial crimes including money laundering.
As reported earlier, the Minister of state for corporate affairs PP Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Friday that “in addition to the self regulation mechanism existing within the ICAI framework, there is need for an independent regulator… to oversee compliance with accounting and auditing standards and for oversight of audit professionals.”
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the apex body of Chartered Accountants, however, opposed the move and said that the existing framework is “adequate” and that there is no need for a new body.
“The present system under the disciplinary committee of ICAI is robust. We have already brought down the pendency of cases from seven years to three years as of July 2017. The setting up of NFRA will lead to duplicity and confusion among stakeholders. Our focus should be strengthen existing bodies rather than replicating them,” said Nilesh Vikamsey, president, ICAI.
As reported in PTI, the provisions are likely to be made to allow NFRA to impose penalties of at least Rs 1 lakh which may extend up to five times of the fees received in case of individuals and not less than Rs 10 lakh which may extend up to ten times of the fees received in case of firms.
It can debar any CA or a firm from practice for a minimum period of six months which can extend up to 10 years.
Earlier this year, the government raised concerns as over 1400 complaints against CAs were pending and data showed that only 25 CAs have been punished in the past 10 years.
