What does the Chartered Accountants, Cost and Works Accountants, and Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill state?
The introduced bills change the mechanism used earlier for disciplinary actions under the three Acts and specify the timeline which needs to be given for the disciplinary proceedings. In addition, it increased more representation on the Board of Discipline and Disciplinary committee. Currently, the disciplinary committee for CAs has five members, out of which three are The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) members, and two are government nominees. The bill introduced wants to include two CAs and three non-CAs. Also, the disciplinary committee should be headed by a non-Chartered Accountant.- Section 9 of the bill states, "There shall be a Coordination Committee consisting of the President, Vice-President and the Secretary of the Council of each of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants of India, the Cost Accountants of India and the Company Secretaries of India for the development and harmonization of the professions of Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants and Company Secretaries."
- The meeting of the Coordination Committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- The meeting of the Coordination Committee needs to be held once every quarter of a year.
What is the purpose of this committee?
- There should be effective coordination of the functions assigned to each institute.
- The institute should ensure the quality of improvement in the academics, infrastructure, research, and all other work related to the institutions.
- Making recommendations in matters relating to the regulatory policies needed for the profession.
