The All India Cost Management Accountants Association (AICMAA) has penned a letter to the Prime Minister of India, urging the recognition of the pivotal role played by Cost Management Accountants in driving progress for both the government and the industrial sector.
With a membership of around 90,000 professionals, the AICMAA has requested the Prime Minister to initiate government measures aimed at bolstering national economic growth and, consequently, acknowledging the importance of the Cost and Management Accountants profession.
The letter expressed gratitude to the Union Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, for her recognition of the CMA profession and her trust in it, as evidenced by the recent amendments made to Section 142(2A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The letter also pointed out the key points which emphasise the significance of the CMA Profession. The key points as stated in the letter includes, Strategic decision making, Resource Optimisation, Policy Formulation, Investor confidence, Risk management and competitiveness.
The association clarified that this recognition involves designating the ICMAI as an ‘Institution of National Importance’ and integrating their expertise into significant government decision-making bodies.
In June 2023, the ICMAI announced that they would use ‘ICMAI’ as an acronym instead of ‘ICAI’. The institute resolved to use the acronym ‘ICMAI’ at its 344th Meeting, held on May 20 and 21, 2023, according to a circular released by the institute on June 13th, 2023.
The Delhi High Court’s ruling on March 21, 2023, forbade the Institute of Cost Accountants of India from abbreviating themselves as ‘ICAI’. The High Court granted the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to use the acronym ‘ICAI’.
The High Court also directed the institute to remove the reference mark ‘ICAI’ from all physical and digital channels, including social media accounts and websites. The Circular further indicated that failure to follow any of the instructions could result in repercussions that were solely the responsibility of the official, member, student, officeholder, or individual. Any references made have to be removed with immediate effect and only use ‘ICMAI’.
Read More: CMA Institute announces to use ‘ICMAI’ as Acronym with Immediate Effect
Recently, the ICAI writes Actor Mohanlal for endorsements of false claims of the CA, CMA and ACCA coaching institute ‘Lakshya’ in advertisements. The letter addressed to the actor Padma Shri Bharath Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Mohanlal stated the following : –
“We are deeply concerned about the issue of coaching centres in our region misleading students by providing false information about the qualifications they are offering. We would like to bring to your attention the fact that not only are these coaching centres misleading students through their courses, but they are also running print and video advertisements that are equally misleading. We hereby draw your attention to the Video Advertisement where you have endorsed the Coaching Institute — Lakshya.”
Read More: ICAI writes to Malayalam Actor Mohanlal for Endorsing False Claim of CA and ACCA Coaching Institute
Regarding the same, a practicing Chartered Accountant – CA John Lukose through Advocate Boby Thomas from Kerala has also issued a legal notice to the coaching institute to immediately withdraw the misleading advertisement after the involvement of the ICAI.
The legal notice stated that the institute falsely mentioned in the advertisement that ACCA is a Chartered Accountancy Course which is totally illegal and highly misleading. This course has no connection with the Chartered Accountancy Course and the student passing the exam if he falsely uses the designation of Chartered Accountant will render him liable for fine and imprisonment according to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.
Notably, every profession carries its own worth and value, and being an ACCA or a CMA is purely a matter of choice and proportionate hard work as per requirements of each course. Each of these courses have differences in curriculum and areas of practice after qualification.
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