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Functions of the Board

As per Sec. 28B of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, the Board shall perform the following functions:-

(a) to make recommendations to the Council with regard to the quality of services provided by the members of Institute;
(b) to review the quality of services provided by the members of the Institute including audit services; and
(c) to guide the members of the Institute to improve the quality of services and adherence to the various statutory and other regulatory requirements.
(d) to forward cases of non-compliance with various statutory and regulatory requirements by the members of the Institute or firms, noticed by it during the course of its reviews, to the Disciplinary Directorate for its examination.
However, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, vide letter F.No.7/1/2019-CL-1 dated 30th January, 2019, has clarified to the Quality Review Board that in view of Sec.132 (2) of the Companies Act, 2013 r/w Rule 9(4) of NFRA Rules, 2018, the issue of QRB reviewing audits of the companies/bodies corporate specified under Rule 3 of the NFRA Rules, 2018 will only arise in case a reference is so made to QRB by NFRA, and not otherwise.

Rule 3 (1) of National Financial Reporting Authority Rules, 2018, as notified by Central Government on 13 November, 2018, inter alia, provides that the Authority (read NFRA) shall have power to monitor and enforce compliance with accounting standards and auditing standards, oversee the quality of service under sub-section (2) of section 132 or undertake investigation under sub-section (4) of such section of the auditors of the following class of companies and bodies corporate, namely:-
(a) companies whose securities are listed on any stock exchange in India or outside India;
(b) unlisted public companies having paid-up capital of not less than rupees five hundred crores or having annual turnover of not less than rupees one thousand crores or having, in aggregate, outstanding loans, debentures and deposits of not less than rupees five hundred crores as on the 31st March of immediately preceding financial year;
(c) insurance companies, banking companies, companies engaged in the generation or supply of electricity, companies governed by any special Act for the time being in force or bodies corporate incorporated by an Act in accordance with clauses (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of sub-section (4) of section 1 of the Act;
(d) any body corporate or company or person, or any class of bodies corporate or companies or persons, on a reference made to the Authority by the Central Government in public interest; and
(e) a body corporate incorporated or registered outside India, which is a subsidiary or associate company of any company or body corporate incorporated or registered in India as referred to in clauses (a) to (d), if the income or networth of such subsidiary or associate company exceeds twenty percent of the consolidated income or consolidated networth of such company or the body corporate, as the case may be, referred to in clauses (a) to (d).

Rule 9(4) of NFRA Rules, 2018 provides that the Authority (read NFRA) may refer cases with regard to overseeing the quality of service of auditors of companies or bodies corporate referred to in rule 3 to the Quality Review Board constituted under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949) or call for any report or information in respect of such auditors or companies or bodies corporate from such Board as it may deem appropriate.

Accordingly, QRB would now be able to initiate reviews of quality of audit services provided by members of the Institute only in respect of entities other than those specified under Rule 3(1) of NFRA Rules, 2018, namely, private limited companies, unlisted public companies below the thresholds specified under Rule 3(1) of NFRA Rules, 2018 and other entities not specified under Rule 3(1) of NFRA Rules, 2018; and those referred to QRB by NFRA under Rule 9(4) of NFRA Rules, 2018. However, in the meanwhile, QRB has also been completing its on-going reviews of top listed and other public interest entities which were in process.