The selection process has been linked to appraisal system to be made on the basis of selected parameters such as longer association of members with the firm, qualification of overall employees and experience of bank audit.
On the other hand, the allotment of auditors to the banks is pegged to the asset size of the banks. In the process, the total number of auditors to be selected for PSU banks and FIs has been trimmed to 146 from 181 earlier.
This has resulted in discontentment among the auditors, who feel that the norms are far too stringent for new firms to compete.
As per the new norms, banks with an asset size of Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) will have four auditors, followed by five auditors for banks with an asset base of Rs 50,000-1 lakh crore and six for an asset size exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore.
Earlier, State Bank of India had 14 auditors, RBI had four auditors, and IDBI Bank and UTI Bank had two auditors each. Every PSU bank had six auditors.
In a bid to encourage new firms, the RBI has decided to fill in 20 per cent of the total vacancies with new firms as against 10 per cent earlier.
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