CAAS Urges Withdrawal of Mandatory CA Certificate Format Requirement:

The Chartered Accountants Association, Surat (CAAS) has submitted a detailed representation to the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector and Collector of Electricity Duty, Gujarat, objecting to the insistence on Chartered Accountant certificates being furnished strictly in departmental formats for Electricity Duty Exemption and related incentive schemes.

CAAS stated that while the Department is fully entitled to prescribe the information required for processing exemption claims, it cannot compel Chartered Accountants to issue certificates that omit professional disclosures and safeguards mandated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). According to the representation, several applicants have received queries directing them to resubmit CA certificates in the exact prescribed format despite the original certificates containing all relevant information along with additional professional disclosures.

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The Association argued that ICAI’s Guidance Note on Reports or Certificates for Special Purposes (Revised 2016) requires Chartered Accountants to disclose matters such as the basis of certification, scope of verification, records examined, management responsibility, practitioner responsibility, limitations of procedures performed, and restrictions on use. CAAS contended that these disclosures are not optional drafting preferences but essential professional safeguards designed to prevent misuse and misunderstanding of certifications.

Referring to a departmental query issued in Gujarati, CAAS highlighted an instance where an applicant was specifically directed to obtain and submit a certificate containing the exact wording of the Department’s prescribed format. According to the Association, such objections focus on the form of the certificate rather than the substance of the information certified, creating unnecessary compliance burdens for applicants and ethical dilemmas for professionals.

The representation further emphasized that ICAI, being a statutory regulator established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, governs the manner in which Chartered Accountants issue certificates. It argued that departmental formats, portal instructions, administrative practices, or internal checklists cannot override professional standards prescribed by ICAI.

CAAS maintained that inclusion of professional safeguard paragraphs does not alter certified figures relating to capital investment, commencement of production, or other factual particulars. Instead, such disclosures enhance transparency by clarifying the scope of work performed, records relied upon, and limitations of the certification.

Warning that the current practice is causing avoidable disputes, delays, and repeated submissions in Electricity Duty Exemption applications, CAAS urged the Department to issue an immediate clarification permitting ICAI-compliant certificates even where a specimen format has been prescribed.

Among its key demands, CAAS requested that certificates should not be rejected merely because they contain professional disclosures relating to scope, limitations, responsibilities, basis of verification, or restriction on use; that prescribed formats should be treated only as information requirements; and that pending applications should not be delayed solely because certificates are not confined to exact departmental wording.

The Association also offered to work with the Department in developing a standard format that satisfies both administrative requirements and ICAI’s professional reporting framework. A copy of the representation has been forwarded to the Ethical Standards Board and President of ICAI, seeking institutional support on what CAAS describes as a growing conflict between governmental certificate formats and professional standards.