DIRECT ENTRY TO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANCY COURSE – AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS REGULATIONS, 1988
This is to inform all concerned that with the issuance of the Notification No. 1-CA(7)/145/2012 on August 1, 2012, the provisions relating to Direct Entry Scheme for Graduates/Post Graduates, etc., with prescribed percentage of marks, to the Chartered Accountancy Course have come into force from August 1, 2012. The said Notification is reproduced hereinbelow for information of all concerned.
Interested persons/students, i.e., freshers and existing students are advised to watch for the details of registration formalities and of transitional scheme including fee payable, registration form which will be announced/published by around August 16, 2012.
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[PUBLISHED IN PART III, SECTION 4 OF THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY DATED, THE 1ST AUGUST, 2012]
THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA
New Delhi, the 1st August, 2012
NOTIFICATION
NO.1-CA(7)/145/2012.- Whereas certain draft regulations further to amend the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, were published as required by sub-section (3) of section 30 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949), in the notification of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India No. 1-CA(7)/145/2012, dated the 23rd February, 2012, in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part III, Section 4, dated the 23rd February, 2012, inviting objections and suggestions from persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of forty-five days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public;
And whereas the copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 28th February, 2012;
And whereas the objections and suggestions received from the public on the said draft regulations have been considered by the Council of the Institute;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 30 of the said Act, the Council, with the approval of the Central Government, hereby makes the following regulations further to amend the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, namely:-
1. (1) These regulations may be called the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations, 2012.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988, (hereinafter referred to as the said regulations), in regulation 2, in sub-regulation (1),-
(i) after clause (xiii), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:- `(xiii a) “rules” means the rules made by the Central Government under the Act;’;
(ii) in clause (xv), for the words “or any Deputy”, the words “or any Additional or Joint or Deputy” shall be substituted.
3. In regulation 25C of the said regulations, for the words “Common Proficiency Test” wherever they occur, the words “Common Proficiency Course” shall respectively be substituted.
4. In regulation 25D of the said regulations,-
(i) in sub-regulation (1),-
(a) after the words, “Central Government”, the words “or the State Government” shall be inserted;
(b) after the words “as equivalent thereto”, the words “for the purposes of admission to graduation courses” shall be inserted.
(ii) after sub-regulation (1), the following sub-regulations shall be
inserted, namely:-
“(1A) Any graduate or post graduate referred to in sub-clause (ix) of regulation 2 shall be exempted from passing the Common Proficiency Test under this regulation if such person is a -
(i) graduate or post graduate in commerce having secured in aggregate a minimum of fifty-five per cent. of the total marks or its equivalent grade in the examination conducted by any recognised University (including Open University) by studying any three papers of 100 marks each out of Accounting, Auditing, Mercantile Laws, Corporate Laws, Economics, Management (including Financial Management), Taxation (including Direct Tax Laws and Indirect Tax Laws), Costing, Business Administration or Management Accounting; or
(ii) graduate or post graduate other than those referred to in clause (i), having secured in aggregate a minimum of sixty per cent. of the total marks or its equivalent grade in the examination conducted by any recognised University (including Open University).
(1B) Any candidate who has passed the Intermediate examination conducted by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India set up under the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 (23 of 1959) or by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India set up under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980) shall also be exempted from passing the Common Proficiency Test under this regulation.
Explanation.- For the purposes of sub-regulations (1A) and (1B),-
(i) for calculating the percentage of marks, the marks secured in subjects in which a person is required by the University (including open University) to obtain only pass marks and for which no special credit is given for higher marks, shall be ignored; and
(ii) any fraction of half or more shall be rounded up to the next whole
number.”.
5. In regulation 28C of the said regulations,-
(a) for the words “Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be substituted;
(b) in sub-regulation (1),-
(i) in clause (a),-
(a) after the words, “Central Government”, the words “or the State Government” shall be inserted;
(b) after the words “as equivalent thereto”, the words “for the purposes of admission to graduation courses” shall be inserted;
(ii) (a) in clause (b), for the word “worked”, the word “served” shall be substituted;
(b) after the words “examination is held”, the words “and has been so continuing on the first day of the said month” shall be inserted;
(iii) in the second proviso, after the words, brackets and letters “to
appear in the Professional Education (Examination-II)”, the words, brackets and letter “and he fulfils the condition laid down under clause (b)” shall be inserted.
6. In regulation 28D of the said regulations, -
(a) for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Course” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course” shall respectively be substituted;
(b) for sub-regulation (2), the following sub-regulation shall be
substituted, namely:-
“(2) No candidate shall be eligible for enrolment to any of the level of the Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course, unless he –
(a) has passed the Common Proficiency Test held under these regulations and Senior Secondary Examination (10+2 examination) conducted by an examining body constituted by law in India or an examination recognised by the Central Government or the State Government as equivalent thereto for the purposes of
admission to graduation courses; or
(b) has been exempted from passing Common Proficiency
Test under regulation 25D.”;
(c) after sub-regulation (2), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-regulation (2), a candidate who is pursuing the final year of graduation course shall be provisionally registered to the Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course which shall be confirmed only on submission of satisfactory proof of having passed the graduation examination with the minimum marks as provided in
sub-regulation (1A) of regulation 25D within such period not exceeding six months as may be decided by the Council, from the date of appearance in the final year graduation examination:
Provided that if such candidate fails to produce the proof within the
aforesaid period, his provisional registration shall be cancelled and the registration fee or the tuition fee, as the case may be, paid by him shall not be refunded and for the purpose of these regulations no credit shall be given for the theoretical education undergone.”.
7. In regulation 28E of the said regulations, -
(a) for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Examination”, “Integrated Professional Competence Course” and “Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination”, “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course” and “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be substituted;
(b) in sub-regulation (1), after clause (b), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely,-
“Provided that a candidate who has been exempted from passing Common Proficiency Test under sub-regulation (1A) of regulation 25D and enrolled for the Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course shall be eligible to appear in the examination on completion of nine months of practical training under regulation 50.”;
8. In regulation 29B of the said regulations, after the words “Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “or the Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be inserted.
9. In regulation 29C of the said regulations, -
(A) in sub-regulation (1),-
(i) in clause (i),-
(a) for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted;
(b) the word “and” occurring at the end, shall be omitted;
(ii) in clause (ii), after the words “examination is held”, the words “or has been serving the last six months of practical training under regulation 50 on the first day of the month in which the examination is held” shall be inserted;
(iii) after clause (ii), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-
“(iii) he produces a certificate to the effect that he has undergone a study course for such period, as on the first day of the month in which examination is held, in such manner as may be decided by the Council from time to time; and
(iv) completed the Advanced Course on Information Technology Training under these regulations for such period and in such manner as may be decided by the Council, from time to time.”;
(iv) for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-
“Provided that a candidate who has passed Professional
Education (Examination-II) under the syllabus as decided by the
Council under sub-regulation (5) of regulation 28B and has completed the practical training as is required for admission as a member on or before the last day of the month preceding the month in which the examination is held or has been serving the last twelve months of practical training including excess leave, if any, on the first day of the month in which the examination is held and has completed the said study course and Advanced Course on Information Technology Training, shall be admitted to the Final Examination.”;
(B) in sub-regulation (2),-
(a) after the words “Integrated Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “or Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination” shall be inserted;
(b) after the words “examination is held” occurring at the end, the words “and has completed the aforesaid study course and Advanced Course on Information Technology Training” shall be inserted.
10. In regulation 31 of the said regulations, -
(i) in clause (ii), for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted;
(ii) in clause (iii), for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Course”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course” shall be substituted.
11. For regulation 36A of the said regulations, the following regulation shall be
substituted, namely:-
“36A Requirement for passing Common Proficiency Test.-- A candidate for the Common Proficiency Test shall ordinarily be declared to have passed the test if he obtains at one sitting a minimum of thirty per cent. marks in each section and a minimum of fifty per cent. marks in the aggregate of all the sections, subject to the principle of negative marking, in such manner as may be determined by the Council, from time to time.
Explanation.- For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that the provisions of this regulation shall apply to a Common Proficiency Test held on or after the commencement of the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations, 2012.”.
12. In regulation 37B of the said regulations, for the words “Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be substituted.
13. In regulation 37C of the said regulations, -
(i) for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be substituted;
(ii) for the words “Professional Competence Examination” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall respectively be substituted;
(iii) in sub-regulation (2), clause (a) shall be omitted.
14. In regulation 40 of the said regulations, -
(i) for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted;
(ii) for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted.
15. In regulation 43 of the said regulations, –
(i) after sub-regulation (2), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“(2A) A member in full time employment with a firm of chartered accountants shall be entitled to train one articled assistant provided he has been in employment with the same firm for a continuous period of three years.”;
(ii) in sub-regulation (3), clause (i) shall be omitted.
16. In regulation 45 of the said regulations,-
(i) for the words “Integrated Professional Competence Course” wherever they occur, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course” shall be substituted;
(ii) in sub-regulation (1), in clause (b), -
(a) for sub-clause (i), the following sub-clause shall be substituted, namely:-
“(i) has passed the Professional Education (Examination-II) or has passed Group I level or Accounting Technician level of Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination held under these regulations or has been exempted from passing Common Proficiency Test under sub-regulation (1A) of regulation 25D; and”;
(b) in sub-clause (ii), after the words “so specified”, the word “and” shall be inserted;
(c) after sub-clause (ii), the following sub-clause shall be inserted, namely:-
“(ii) has completed the Orientation Course for such period and in such manner and within such time as may be decided by the Council from time to time.“;
(iii) in sub-regulation (2),
(a) after the words “Central Government”, the words “or the State Government” shall be inserted;
(b) after the words “as equivalent thereto”, the words “for the purposes of admission to graduation courses” shall be
inserted.
17. In regulation 50 of the said regulations, --
(i) in the third proviso, for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted;
(ii) for fourth Proviso, the following provisos shall be substituted, namely:-
“Provided also that a candidate enrolled for the Intermediate
(Integrated Professional Competence) Course shall be eligible to three years of articles training on his passing the Group I level or Accounting Technician level of the Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination:
Provided also that a candidate who is a graduate or post
graduate and has been exempted from passing the Common
Proficiency Test shall be eligible to three years of articles training on his registration to the Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Course.”.
18. In regulation 51 of the said regulations, in sub-regulation (1), for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted.
19. After regulation 51B of the said regulations, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“51C. Advanced Course on Information Technology Training. - A candidate shall undergo an Advanced Course on Information Technology Training as may be determined by the Council which shall not be less than one hundred hours and not more than five hundred hours and in such manner and within such time as may be determined by the Council from time to time.”.
20. In regulation 69 of the said regulations,-
(a) in sub-regulation (1), in clause (b), for sub-clauses (ii) and (iii), the following sub-clauses shall respectively be substituted, namely:-
“(ii) has passed the Professional Education (Examination-II) or Group I level or Accounting Technician level of Intermediate (Integrated Professional Competence) Examination held under these regulations or has been exempted from passing the Common Proficiency Test under sub-regulation (1A) of regulation 25D; and
(iii) has successfully completed computer training programme or Information Technology Training, for such period, in such manner and within such time as may be decided by the Council from time to time; and”
(b) after sub-clause (iii), the following sub-clause shall be inserted,
namely:-
“(iv) has completed the Orientation Course for such period, in such manner and within such time as may be decided by the Council from time to time.“.
21. In regulation 72 of the said regulations, in sub-regulation (1), for the words “Professional Competence Examination”, the words and brackets “Intermediate (Professional Competence) Examination” shall be substituted.
22. After regulation 72B of the said regulations, the following regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
“72C. Advanced Course on Information Technology Training. - A candidate shall undergo the Advanced Course on Information Technology Training as may be determined by the Council which shall not be less than one hundred hours and not more than five hundred hours and in such manner and within such time as may be determined by the Council from time to time.”.
23. In regulation 127 of the said regulations, in sub-regulation (1), for item 4, the following item shall be substituted, namely:-
“4. The States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.”
24. In regulation 130 of the said regulations, in sub-regulation (2), -
(i) in clause (xvii), the word “and” occurring at the end shall be omitted;
(ii) after clause (xvii), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-
“(xvii a) to publish Newsletter for dissemination of useful information;
(xvii b) to conduct Continuing Professional Education Programmes on topics of professional relevance; and”.
25. In regulation 134 of the said regulations,-
(i) in sub-regulation (1), -
(a) for the words “April of the year”, the words “April of the financial year” shall be substituted;
(b) after the proviso, the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided further that, if the professional address is not borne on the Register on the relevant date, the residential address borne on the Register shall determine his regional constituency:
Provided also that, in the case of a member having his professional address outside India and eligible to vote, his regional constituency shall be determined according to his professional address in India registered immediately before he went abroad or the residential address in India borne on the Register on the relevant date, whichever is later.”;
(ii) in sub-regulation (2),--
(a) for the words “April of the year”, the words “April of the financial year” shall be substituted;
(b) for the words “on the date of election”, the words “on the last date of scrutiny of nominations” shall be substituted;
(c) the following provisos shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that no person shall be eligible to stand for election to a Regional Council, if–
(a) he is holding a post under the Central Government or State Government;
(b) he is or has been elected as a member to Regional Council for more than three consecutive terms; or
(c ) he is or has been elected as the Chairman under regulation 137:
Provided further that, no person who has been found guilty of any professional or other misconduct and whose name is removed from the Register or has been awarded penalty of fine, shall be eligible to stand for election to a Regional Council,–
(i) in case of misconduct falling under the First Schedule to the Act, for a period of three years;
(ii) in case of misconduct falling under the Second Schedule to the Act, for a period of six years, from the completion of the period of removal of name from the Register or payment of fine, as the case may be:
Provided also that, no person who has been auditor of the Regional Council shall be eligible to stand for election to a Regional Council for a period of three years after he ceases to be the auditor of that Regional Council.”;
(iii) in sub-regulation (3), for the words and figures “under regulation 85”, the words, figures and brackets “under rule 8 read with Schedule 3 to the Chartered Accountants (Election to the Council) Rules, 2006” shall be substituted;
(iv) for sub-regulation (4), the following sub-regulation shall be
substituted, namely:-
“(4) (i) At least three months before the date of election, the Council shall publish, for each regional constituency, a list of members eligible to vote showing distinctly and separately -
(a) whether the voter is an associate or a fellow;
(b) the address of each member as determined under subregulation (1) for deciding the eligibility of the member to vote;
(c) in the case of a voter residing outside India, in addition to his address in India under sub-clause (b), his address outside India if furnished to the Institute by
the voter concerned;11
(d) details of internet address or e-mail address as
furnished by a voter to the Institute, provided an
express consent is given by the voter for its inclusion in
the list of voters;
(e) the manner in which the voter shall exercise his
franchise; and
(f) in case the voter is to exercise his franchise at a polling booth, the number and address of the polling booth, at which the franchise shall be exercised.
(ii) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, the address of a member published in the list of voters for determining the manner in which he shall be entitled to cast his vote, the constituency and the polling booth to which he shall belong for the purpose of casting his vote, shall be final.
(iii) The inclusion of the name of a member in the list of members eligible to vote shall not confer an absolute right to vote at the election which shall be subject to the other provisions of these regulations, the Act and the rules made thereunder.
(iv) The list of members eligible to vote shall be made available at the Headquarters of the Regional Council and its branches on payment of such price as may be fixed by the Council.
(v) An announcement about the availability of the list, shall be put on the website of the Regional Council, the notice board of the Regional Council, as well as the notice board of the branches of the Regional Council, wherever these exist.
(vi) If a clerical mistake or omission is detected in the list of members eligible to vote, the Secretary may rectify such mistake at any time by issue of a suitable corrigendum.”;
(v) in sub-regulation (6), -
(i) in clause (i), for the words “appropriate form”, the words “form approved by the Council” shall be substituted;
(ii) for clause (ii), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:-
“(ii) delivered along with requisite fees, security deposit and other papers required for the purpose in the form approved by the Council to the Secretary by name not later than 6 P.M. on the notified date: Provided that no nomination delivered after the last date and time notified for the election shall be entertained by the Panel for scrutiny of nominations.
(iii) An acknowledgement of delivery shall be issued by the Secretary or by a person authorised by him on receipt12 of nomination form mentioning the time and date of receipt of nomination form.”;
(vi) after sub-regulation (6), the following sub-regulation and Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-
“(6A) The nomination shall be valid only if it is accompanied by a statement signed and verified by the candidate containing the information called for.
Explanation.– For the purpose of this sub-regulation, a valid nomination means a nomination which contains all the particulars called for through the nomination form and incomplete nomination without one or more particulars shall liable to be rejected.”;
(vii) in sub-regulation (7), for the words “one thousand rupees”, the words “twenty-five thousand rupees” shall be substituted;
(viii) after sub-regulation (7), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted,
namely:-
“(7A) A candidate for election, in addition to fee as provided in this Chapter shall pay, irrespective of the number of nominations filed, an amount of ten thousand rupees as security deposit, which shall be forfeited if he fails to secure not less than one per cent. of the original votes polled in the concerned regional constituency.”;
(ix) in sub-regulation (8), for the words “in consultation with and approval”, the words “with the prior approval” shall be substituted;
(x) after sub-regulation (9), the following sub-regulation shall be inserted, namely:-
”(9A) At the time of giving his decision, the President may -
(a) dismiss the dispute referred to him under subregulation (9);
(b) declare the election of all or any of the elected candidates to be void;
(c) declare the election of all or any of the elected candidates to be void and declare the applicant or any other candidate to have been duly elected; or
(d) may pass such order as to costs as he may consider appropriate.”;
(xi) in sub-regulation (10), for the words and figures “prescribed in Chapter VI of these regulations”, the words, brackets and figures “specified in the Chartered Accountants (Election to the Council) Rules, 2006” shall be substituted.
26. In regulation 135 of the said regulations, in sub-regulation (4), the Explanation shall be omitted.
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