Auditing co-operative banks and societies in Kerala has met with difficulty due to delay in constituting the auditors panel as per the Cooperative Amendment Rules, 2014 , reports New Indian Express.
According to the finance dept, the appointment of auditors under KSR(156) for societies/banks would add to their financial burden if cooperatives themselves do not pay.
Sources say the department of cooperation could not constitute the auditors’ panel yet as the Finance Department objected to the proposal saying it would require creation of new posts.
The Registrar of Co-operatives has said the process of preparation of the panel of auditing firms and auditors is still in progress and the condition to prepare the panel before 60 days prior to the close of the previous fiscal could not be complied with.
As the societies cannot pass the audited accounts in the stipulated time frame, the Cooperative Registrar recommended to the government to extend the exemption already granted to the societies from the Kerala Co-Operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2013 for 2 years with retrospective effect from January 2014 to December 31, 2015.
It has also exempted the societies from the Rule 64 of Kerala Cooperative Societies (second Amendment) 2014 which came to force on November 26, 2014.