President assents to the CA, CWA, and the CS (Amendment) Act, 2022

The CA, CWA, and CS (Amendment) Act, 2022, No. 12 of 2022

Hon’ble President of India has given his assent to the CA, CWA, and the CS (Amendment) Act, 2022. The Amendment Act prescribes for a coordination Committee of all three prime Institutes. Disciplinary Mechanism has been made stringent i.e., Sections 21, 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D, 22 have been revamped. Persons who are not members of the Institute will now be the presiding officers of the Board of Discipline and Disciplinary Committee, to ensure impartiality and independence. The key highlights of the Amendment Act include:

a) Higher penalties for misusing the name of the Council and awarding the false degree of CA/CWA/CS;

b) Penalty to be imposed on companies and LLPs (having a company as its partner) engaged in the profession of CA/CS/CWA;

c) A Coordination Committee to be constituted to develop the professions of Chartered Accountants, Cost Accountants, and Company Secretaries;

d) Firms are included in the purview of the disciplinary mechanism to enabling them to prefer an appeal before the authority;

e) The Amendment Act fixes a timeline for completion of inquiry by Disciplinary Committees;

f) Higher penalty to be levied on a person falsely claiming to be a member of CA/CWA/CS Institute;

g) The Amendment Act modifies the meaning of ‘professional or other misconduct’ to include any act or omission by a member either in his individual capacity or as a partner or owner of a firm;

h) The Amendment Act introduces the provisions relating to the registration of firms and maintaining the register of firms;

i) The audit of annual accounts of the Council is to be done by a firm of Chartered Accountants appointed annually by the Council from the panel of auditors maintained by the C&AG;

j) The Amendment Act includes bankruptcy as a ground for disqualification of a member;

k) Increase in the disqualification period of a member from contesting the election if he is found guilty of any misconduct;

l) The Amendment Act provides that the Council shall decide the fee required for entry of names in the register of members. The condition of prior approval of the Central Government to determine such fees has been dispensed with; and

m) The Amendment Act removes the upper limit and empower the councils to decide the fee for the grant of certificate of practice (COP).

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