The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will make peer reviews compulsory for all component auditors conducting public sector bank (PSB) branch audits from January 2027, according to a Financial Express report.
The institute is also planning to reduce the time required to resolve disciplinary matters involving chartered accountants to 365 days from the current two to three years, the publication added, quoting ICAI president Prasanna Kumar D.
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While principal auditors of PSBs are already subject to peer review rules, the requirement will be extended to component auditors under the new measure.
Peer review is currently mandatory for companies carrying out statutory audits of listed companies, certain large unlisted public companies, or entities that have raised more than $5.2m (Rs500m) from the public or banks and financial institutions, and public interest entities.
It is also required for companies providing attestation services that have three or more partners.
The ICAI currently has more than 1,000 peer reviewers.
Kumar was quoted by the Financial Express as saying: “Earlier, 4,000–5,000 firms used to be certified by us, with the certification valid for three years. Now, even 30,000–40,000 CA [chartered accountancy] firms can be peer reviewed in a year. To that extent, we have increased our capacity.”
According to ICAI officials, the wider programme is expected to include around 15,000 audit firms.
At the same time, the institute has moved its peer review process from a manual system to an online portal, covering each stage from application submission through to certificate issuance.
Regarding disciplinary proceedings, around 400 cases remain pending before the ICAI’s disciplinary benches after a prima facie opinion has been prepared and accepted.
Kumar added: “We are trying to dispose of these cases within one year. At present, we are not planning any procedural reforms. Instead, we are devoting our time and energy to achieving this target.”
