ICAI Plans Chartered Accountant Act Changes to Help Indian Firms Compete With Global Giants:

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is preparing proposals to amend the Chartered Accountants Act to help Indian accounting and consulting firms grow larger and compete with global firms such as EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC.

The proposed changes come as the Centre considers regulatory measures to help domestic professional firms expand their operations and increase their presence in the global auditing and consultancy market, estimated at around $240 billion.

An ICAI official said the institute is expected to finalise its proposals within the next two months. The proposals will then be considered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Any changes requiring amendments to the Chartered Accountants Act will ultimately need approval from Parliament.

One of the key proposals is measured deregulation of non-assurance services. This could provide Chartered Accountants with greater flexibility to undertake consultancy and advisory work and create a more level playing field for Indian firms.

ICAI also plans to revise its 2021 networking guidelines and the 2006 guidelines relating to the practice of Chartered Accountants through corporate forms. The revised framework is expected to give professional networks greater flexibility to expand their capabilities.

Under the proposed framework, networks could include professionals from multiple fields, including company secretaries, cost accountants, advocates, engineers, architects and actuaries. ICAI-registered multidisciplinary partnerships and other professional entities may also be allowed to participate.

According to the ICAI official, the objective is to enable professionals regulated under different laws to work together, thereby expanding expertise and service capabilities and helping create firms with greater institutional scale.

The initiative is also linked to the government's broader objective of developing large Indian professional and consulting entities capable of competing with global accounting networks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier called for at least four Indian entities to be among the world's top eight professional firms.