Institute of Chartered Accountants of India reprimands a member

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India reprimands a member

The respondent had stated that the Facebook post was meant only for his friends

The Board of Discipline of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has found a chartered accountant guilty of professional misconduct for using Facebook for advertising professional services.

The case pertains to chartered accountant Pankaj Arora, who was blamed for wrongdoing in February last under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.

Arora filed a complaint stating that the purpose of the picture on Facebook was only for the information to his friends and he did not derive any advantage out of it.

However, on perusing the documents, the Board found that he had advertised his professional attainments/services on a signboard pointing a direction to his office and used the words 'Income Tax & GST Consultant'.

The Board clarified that the members were not allowed to use the term 'Income Tax Consultant' on professional documents. This was, however, apparent in the case of the chartered accountant.

The Board maintained that he had used the social media platform for wide exposure and it was irrelevant whether he or someone else had uploaded the details, as his name was clearly mentioned in the post.