“CA” is a prefix that instantly brings a sense of respect, anywhere in the world.
As soon as you see “CA” as a prefix attached to someone's name, you know he is a Chartered accountant implying that he is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
When you are a member of ICAI, the code of ethics applies to you, which descriptively states the conduct expected from you as a member of ICAI, in all professional as well as personal circumstances.
Provisions of Clause (2) of Part-IV of First Schedule to The Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 talks about the professional misconduct of a member resulting from their action, whether or not related to professional work which can bring disrepute to the profession.
According to the Advertisement guidelines 2008, in Volume II of the Code of Ethics, CA members, CA in service, and CA firms can have a social media presence with their professional accounts as well as personal accounts.
But there was no mention specifically of the conduct on social media as a member of ICAI.
There were rising concerns around the conduct of Chartered accountants on social media, on their usage of CA as a prefix, and their behavior when on digital platforms, as there were no specific guidelines around digital conduct.
Hence, ICAI came up with a notification to clear out the air around whether CA can be used as a prefix on social media, and if yes, how.
Why was the notification important from ICAI's point of view?
When an institute awards a prefix to a professional, the professional is bound by the ethics and is expected to follow certain ethics, because the professional then do not act in independence, but the brand name of the institute is attached to his acts. His actions can directly or indirectly affect the image of the institute and thus are monitored under certain codes of ethics.
Social media behavior is no exception.
So let us see what exactly ICAI mentioned in the notification.
The notification specifically talks about how the ICAI expects the member or the CA firm, to behave, on social media platforms, when using CA as a prefix to their names or mentioning themselves as a CA firm. The notification is to clarify the provisions in the Code of Ethics regarding the presence, behavior, content sharing, and advertisement using social media.
To summarize the notification, the points that a CA should take care of while being on social media are –
1) You can use the prefix CA only if you are a member of the institute. Students and Chartered Accountants who do not have membership numbers cannot do so.
2) Practicing CAs and CA firms need to maintain discretion and not solicit clients through their posts or comments, thus cannot violate clauses 6 or 7 of the First Schedule to CA Act 1949.
3) The members need to be responsible for the kind of shared content, which can be knowledge-based and industry-related, contributing to their professional reputation as an expert.
4) Personal accounts can be maintained and content can be shared, with caution of not involving professional soliciting messages, therefore not violating any clauses, even if it is a personal account.
5) Utmost care needs to be taken that no derogatory remarks are made either towards the institute, other CAs, professions, or of any kind, whatever.
6) No content with a strong or controversial opinion on any race, religion, culture, nationality, or origin can be made.
7) A member can give links to their websites and other social media platforms, without divulging details about the services or clients.
8) No content in the form of caricatures, pictures, memes, videos, or written can be shared that either solicit clients or is derogatory in any manner.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India thus expects the members to show utmost dignity while using CA as a prefix, on social media to avoid negative portrayal of Chartered accountancy as a profession and ICAI as an institute.
Remember you are a member of the institute, carrying the brand name of ICAI along with you, which makes each of your acts whether in person or digitally, reliable, and can cause damage to the reputation of not only you as a professional but also the ICAI.
Reference: ICAI Advisory dt. 10/22/2022: Use of the designation “Chartered Accountant” or prefix “CA” by members while expressing views on professional/non-professional matters publicly including on social media.
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