Audit trail: 5 years of NFRA cracking the whip

The regulator has pulled up erring chartered accountants and firms, but is its work having an impact?

In the five years since the National Financial Regulatory Authority (NFRA) was established in 2018, it has ticked off many company auditors, made some of them resign and pushed for reforms. What it has been unable to do is catch the imagination of company board rooms.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is more visible in those circles, despite its perceived lack of zeal to censure chartered accountants for errors. NFRA has passed 22 penal orders on auditors in about 30 months.

“Our role and responsibilities are very distinct which is for standard-setting, investigation and disciplinary matters (on