Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003 |
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Policy Industry & Economy - Accounting Standards CAs unhappy at `harmonisation' K.R. Srivats
New Delhi , Dec. 30 CHARTERED accountants are displeased that the Government is putting fetters on their autonomous functioning in the name of bringing in uniformity in the legislations governing the three professional bodies. A section of the ICAI Council, which includes the President and the Vice-President, see themselves as victims of the "harmonisation" drive that is being undertaken by the Government. The Government had announced that the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and the two legislations relating to Cost Accountants and Company Secretaries are being amended to bring about uniformity in the functioning of the three professional bodies. "It is a question of how and in what areas harmonisation should be undertaken. Under the guise of harmonisation, they (law makers) are planning to put unnecessary fetters on us without addressing the needs of the profession," Mr R. Bupathy, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) told Business Line here. Reacting to the proposals in the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Bill 2003, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament, Mr Bupathy expressed concern that an opportunity is being missed in ensuring development of the profession in an increasingly globalised environment. He pointed out that more restrictions are being placed on the Institute at a time when deregulation is the guiding philosophy of the Government. The Chartered Accountants Act has not been comprehensively amended since its enactment in the year 1949. "We are taking a U-turn and putting the profession behind in times. Instead of adopting the recommendations made by ICAI as a package, they have decided to pick and choose. There has been no holistic approach. Some of the measures are being brought in without going through a consultative process with the Institute in its entirety. This would pose difficulties in implementation," Mr Bupathy said. Some of the ICAI Council members even feel that they are at the receiving end of the "regulatory curbs" being placed on all the professional bodies. "Instead of putting regulatory fetters only on those who have erred, they (law makers) are extending the curbs to the sister institutes as well for no fault of the latter. If you read the Bill, you would wonder who is the regulator of the CA profession. Is it the ICAI or the Government (bureaucrats)," a ICAI Council member said.
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