In a significant move aimed at streamlining the audit process for multi-State cooperative societies and banks, the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies under the Ministry of Cooperation has merged two separate auditor panels into a single unified panel for the financial year 2024-25.
According to an order issued by the Office of the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies, the new panel will include Chartered Accountant (CA) firms responsible for conducting Statutory and Concurrent Audits of multi-State cooperative societies and banks with an annual turnover or deposit exceeding Rs 500 crore.
The Ministry has restructured the auditor panels to ensure a more streamlined auditing process. Under the revised structure, a panel of 9,051 Chartered Accountant (CA) firms has been designated for auditing multi-State cooperative societies with an annual turnover or deposit of up to Rs 500 crore.
Additionally, a unified panel of 9,822 CA firms has been created for auditing multi-State cooperative societies and banks with a turnover or deposit exceeding Rs 500 crore. This panel includes the 9,051 firms from the first panel, along with an additional 771 firms.
To facilitate a seamless transition, auditors who were already appointed for the financial year 2024-25 before the issuance of this order will remain part of the merged panel. This measure ensures that there are no disruptions in the audit processes of multi-State cooperative societies and banks.
The conditions governing the appointment, tenure, eligibility, and disqualification of auditors will remain unchanged. The criteria will continue to follow the guidelines specified in the previous order dated October 3, 2024.
The decision, approved by the Competent Authority, is expected to enhance efficiency and transparency in the auditing process of cooperative institutions across India.
