Section 4 – The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949

(1) Any of the following persons shall be entitled to have his name entered in the Register, namely :–

(i) any person who is a registered accountant or a holder of a restricted certificate at the commencement of this Act;

(ii) any person who has passed such examination and completed such training as may be prescribed for members of the Institute;

(iii) any person who has passed the examination for the Government Diploma in Accountancy or an examination recognised as equivalent thereto by the rules for the award of the Government Diploma in Accountancy before the commencement of this Act, and who, although not duly qualified to be registered as an accountant under the Auditor’s Certificates Rules, 1932, fulfils such conditions as the Central Government may specify in this behalf;¹

(iv) any person who, at the commencement of this Act, is engaged in the practice of accountancy in any ²[Part B State] and who, although not possessing the requisite qualifications to be registered as an accountant under the Auditor’s Certificates Rules, 1932, fulfils such conditions as the Central Government may specify in this behalf;³

⁴[(v) any person who has passed such other examination and completed such other training without India as is recognised by the Central Government or the Council⁵ as being equivalent to the examination and training prescribed for members of the Institute:

Provided that in the case of any person who is not permanently residing in India, the Central Government or the Council, as the case may be, may impose such further conditions⁶ as it may deem fit;]

(vi) any person domiciled in India who at the commencement of this Act is studying for any foreign examination and is at the same time undergoing training, whether within or without India, or, who, having passed such foreign examination, is at the commencement of this Act undergoing training, whether within or without India:

Provided that any such examination or training was recognised before the commencement of this Act for the purpose of conferring the right to be registered as an accountant under Auditor’s Certificates Rules, 1932, and provided further that such person passes the examination or completes the training within five years after the commencement of this Act.

(2) Every person belonging to the class mentioned in clause (i) of sub-section (1)) shall have his name entered in the Register without the payment of any entrance fee.

⁷[(3) Every person belonging to any of the classes mentioned in clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi) of sub-section (1) shall have his name entered in the Register on application being made and granted in the prescribed manner and on payment of such fees, as may be determined, by notification⁸, by the Council, which shall not exceed rupees three thousand:

Provided that the Council may, with the prior approval of the Central Government, determine the fee exceeding rupees three thousand, which shall not in any case exceed rupees six thousand.]

(4) The Central Government shall take such steps as may be necessary for the purpose of having the names of all persons belonging to the class mentioned in clause (i) of sub-section (1) entered in the Register.

Amendment

¹ For the Government Notification, please see Appendix No. (3).

² Substituted for the words, “Acceding State ”by the Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951 (III of 1951) published in Part II Section 1 of the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 23^rd February, 1951.

³ For the Government Notifications, please see Appendix No. (4).

⁴ Substituted for clause (v) of sub-section (1) of Section 4 given below by the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 1955, (Act No. 40 of 1955), published in Part II Section 1 of the Gazette of India Extraordinary dated 22^nd October, 1955 :-

“(v) Any person who has passed such other examination and completed such other training without India as is recognised by the Council as equivalent to the examination and training prescribed for members of the Institute:

Provided that in the case of any person who is not permanently residing in India, the Council may prescribe such further conditions as it may think fit;”

⁵ For the Resolution of the Council, please see Appendices No. (5) and (6).

⁶ For the Resolution of the Council, please see Appendices No. (5), (6) and (7).

⁷ Substituted, for the following, by the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006 and came into force w.e.f. 8^th August, 2006 :-

“(3) Every person belonging to any of the classes mentioned in clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi) of sub-section (1) shall have his name entered in the Register on application being made and granted in the prescribed manner and on payment of the prescribed fee, which shall not exceed rupees three hundred in any case.”

⁸ For the notification, please see Appendix No. (8).