(as amended up to March, 2007)

 1.         INTRODUCTION

The Company Secretaries Act, 1980 was enacted to make provisions for the regulation and development of the profession of Company Secretaries. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India set up under the said Act has been conducting examinations and prescribing standards for adherence by its members.

Members of the Institute in employment occupy important positions in industry. The concept of whole-time practice, which gained its initial recognition in 1988, has gained momentum after the enactment of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2000 which required Compliance Certificate to be issued by Practising Company Secretary for certain category of companies. Our members in practice are also being recognized for issuing various certificates by various regulatory authorities.

In the present day scenario, a profession cannot maintain its cutting edge competencies unless its members regularly update their knowledge. Attendance and participation in   Professional Development Programs, Participative Certificate programs organized by the Headquarters and Centre for Corporate Research and Training (CCRT), and Seminars, Conferences, Study Circle Meetings organised by the Council, Regional Councils, Chapters, Satellite Chapters, and other recognised bodies enable members to

1.                  Constantly upgrade professional competence and skills.

2.                  Sensitize them to new and emerging opportunities for service.

3.                  Assure users of professional services that they possess adequate skills commensurate with their professional responsibilities.

4.                  Improve their level of confidence to meet ever-changing demands on the profession.

The Perspective Planning Group constituted by the Council had recommended compulsory attendance by members at Professional Development Programmes as a means of ensuring constant updation of knowledge and skills of members. The ICSI, drawing strength from these recommendations, has now decided that the following guidelines are required to be followed for giving and recording credit as well as eligible programmes and the number of Program Credit Hours to be given for each program.

2.         KEY DEFINITIONS

2.1              “Approved Learning Program” means any Professional Development Program, Continuing    Education Program, Participative Certificate Program of the ICSI, or any other program, Seminar or study circle meeting organised by the Council, Regional Council, Chapter or Satellite Chapter of the Institute, and programmes organised [jointly with professional bodies or Chambers of Commerce].

2.2               “Year” for the purposes of these guidelines shall mean the period commencing from 1st day of April and ending on 31st day of March following.

2.3              “Learning Program Centre”  (LPC) means any wing of the ICSI which conducts  programs and includes the Council, any Committee of the Council, Regional Councils, Chapters, Satellite Chapters and shall include any other centre, wing or  any other entity as may be recognized by the Council from time to time for this  purpose.

3.         AUTHORISATION AND METHOD OF REGULATION

3.1      Under Section 9 of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, the responsibility for management of the affairs of the Institute and for discharging the functions assigned under the said Act vests with the Council.

3.2      The Council considers that in the context of the liberalised economy and the competitive environment, proper regulation and maintenance of the status and standards of the Members is necessary for ensuring competency of the members.

3.3      Pursuant to the above-mentioned authorizations, these guidelines are therefore being issued for implementation.

3.4      Compliance with these guidelines is mandatory for the members in practice and recommendatory for other members.

3.5      For the removal of doubts, it is clarified that all issues relating to the implementation and interpretation of terms used in these guidelines shall be the responsibility of the Professional Development Committee constituted by the Council. The Committee may discharge its duties in this regard (including issue of supplementary guidelines from time to time) for implementation within the limits of its authority as specified or prescribed by the Council.

4.         POWER TO MODIFY GUIDELINES

To ensure that these guidelines are dynamic, the requirements, conditions or terms specified in these guidelines may be modified from time to time at the discretion of the Council on the recommendations of the Professional Development Committee

5.         EFFECTIVE DATE

These guidelines become effective from April 1, 2003.

6.         APPLICABILITY OF THE GUIDELINES

6.1             Effective from 1st April, 2007, it is mandatory for all members in practice of the Institute, except those specified in para 6.2 to secure  12 Program Credit Hours (PCH) in a year or 40 Program Credit Hours in a block of 3 years by attendance of approved learning program.  However, no carry forward for excess Program Credit Hours from block of three years to another block of three years will be allowed. 

6.1.1  It would be sufficient if a member obtains atleast twelve credit hours in a year or 40 credit hours in a block of three years effective from 1st April, 2007.  If a member takes a Certificate of Practice during the block, the requirement for obtaining Credit Hours shall be as under:

(b)     No credit hours will be given to a participant who attends the programme partially.

Members whose reply to prize queries is published in the Chartered Secretary will be entitled to four Programme Credit Hours].

6.2    The requirement specified above shall not apply to:

 (i)       A member who has attained the age of 65 years.

(ii)      A member to whom the Professional Development Committee may in  
                    their absolute discretion grant partial/full exemption on account of
                    facts and circumstances of the case which, in the opinion of the said  
                    Committee, prevents such member from compliance with these  
                    guidelines

 7.       FUNCTIONS OF THE LEARNING PROGRAM CENTRE’S

7.1                 To conduct programs on current topics for the benefit of the members.

7.2                 To maintain attendance record of the member attending the program in a manner which will be prescribed

7.3                 To furnish periodic Activity and Attendance Report to the Headquarters of the ICSI for updation in the master database.

8.         OBLIGATIONS OF THE MEMBER

8.1              A personal record of compliance with the requirements of Program Credit Hours is required to be maintained by each member on an annual basis. This record shall be open to verification by the Institute.

8.2              At the time of payment of annual membership fees, every member is required to confirm that they have secured the minimum annual Program Credit Hours (PCH) and that the record can be produced to the Institute for verification on request.

9.         MANNER OF CALCULATION OF PROGRAM CREDIT HOURS (PCH)

9.1              No Program Credit Hours will be awarded for any learning program whose duration is less than 1 hour.

9.2        The basis of calculation of Program Credit Hours will be as under:

No. of hours of Learning Program             Program Credit Hours

attended by the member                                                   (PCH)

Beyond 1 hour and upto 2 hours                                                      1

Beyond 2 hours and upto 4 hours in a single day                      2

Beyond 4 hours in a single day                                                        4

Program spanning more than one day and upto 2 days               6

Program spanning beyond 2 days                                                    8

9.3              A member whose article is published in the “Chartered Secretary” will be entitled to 4 Program Credit Hours.

[The article published in the Souvenir of National Convention be treated at par with the article published  in the Chartered Secretary for the purposes of grant of credit hours].

9.4              If the Course Coordinator attends the full program, full credit of the Program Credit Hours allotted for the program will be given.

9.5              No Program Credit Hours shall be given to a member for acting as a faculty in Oral Tuition Classes.

9.6              There may be cases of members contributing articles in newspapers, working on   research projects, preparation of or vetting of background or technical material, participating in interactive media programs, etc., All such cases will be decided by the Committee on case to case basis until fresh guidelines covering such instances are drawn up.

9.7              A member who acts as a Chairman or Speaker in any technical session at a Workshop, Seminar or Conference organised by the Program Learning Centre will be entitled to equivalent number of Program Credit Hours as is available for the said technical session.

9.8              For Members who reside in places beyond 100 km from the nearest Regional Council/Chapter/Satellite Chapter and attend a program at any Program Learning Centre, they shall be awarded double the Program Credit Hours for which the concerned Program is entitled. However this will not apply to attendance at the National Convention/ National Conference of Practising Company Secretaries/ Regional Conferences organised by the Regional Councils. [Such members have also the option to prepare a research paper on a topic recommended by the Secretariat.

Where the members in practice residing in remote places are not able to attend the professional development programmes, they may write to the Institute for approving a topic on which they can prepare research paper to get the exemption from securing programme credit hours.

The Research paper includes:

(i)  A concept paper on emerging areas of practice for Company Secretaries

(ii)     A Referencer/backgrounder on contemporary topics relevant to Company Secretaries

(iii)   A booklet on any topic relating to the areas of practice for Company Secretaries

(iv)  A monograph on any contemporary topic relevant to the Practising Company Secretaries

(v)  An empirical study of practical relevance to the Practising Company Secretaries

Members whose research paper is approved by the Professional Development Committee of the Council, will be exempted from the requirement of securing programme credit hours for a block of three years.  

Members who reside in places beyond 100 Kms. from the nearest Regional Council/Chapter/Satellite Chapters will be entitled for Eight Programme Credit Hours if their article/reply to prize query is published in the Chartered Secretary].

 10.      MONITORING REQUIREMENTS

10.1          The Professional Development Committee will monitor and review the programs conducted by the various Program Learning Centres from time to time and appraise the Council of the progress.

10.2          The said Committee shall set up an appropriate monitoring mechanism and provide clarifications (as it considers necessary) to all concerned for effective implementation of these guidelines as per Annexure.