On 1 July 2017—a few months after demonetisation—Indian PM Narendra Modi, addressing thousands of chartered accountants (CAs) in New Delhi, called attention to the malpractices and the criminality plaguing the profession. He proclaimed: “After demonetisation, thieves and robbers must have gone to some economic doctor ... They have definitely taken help of someone who needs to be identified. Don’t you feel the need to identify such people, who are sitting among you, who supported these companies? … It is important to identify such wrong advisors and take strict action against them.” Modi’s indirect jibes at CAs being in cahoots with tax evaders and economic offenders was one part of the story. Corporate India is ditching CAs, preferring MBAs or even tax lawyers over them. Businesses think CAs do not possess an essential understanding of business context or basic presentation skills that MBAs bring to the table. More MBAs are being appointed as chief financial officers (CFO), a role previously monopolised by CAs. Students are dumping the profession. New enrolments and registrations have plummeted. Companies are not showing enhanced interest in recruiting CAs, as revealed by the stagnation in the number of recruiters and average salary packages. The Indian government, which once appointed CAs to high-powered committees entrusted with framing nation-changing policies, doesn’t want them anymore. How big is the role of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in precipitating the decadence of this profession? As a former professor of IIM-Bangalore speaks up, “Chartered accountancy is an odd fusion of medieval, colonial and license raj institutions and practices.”
