THE
INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA
(Constituted under
the Company Secretaries Act, 1980)
ICSI Guideline No. 3 of November, 2007
Guidelines
for Compulsory Attendance of
Professional
Development Programmes for the Members
In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (1) of Part II
of the Second Schedule to the Company
Secretaries Act, 1980 (56 of 1980), as amended by the Company Secretaries
(Amendment) Act, 2006, the Council of the Institute of Company Secretaries of
India hereby issues the following guidelines :-
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, Programmes
organised through electronic/distance mode· 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 of the Council.
5. APPLICABILITY OF THE
GUIDELINES
5.1 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.
5.1.1 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.
If a member takes a Certificate of Practice during the block, the
requirement for obtaining Credit Hours shall be as under :
Certificate of Practice taken during The requirement of Credit Hours
1stApril to 30th September of the Twelve Credit Hours in a year or
first year of the block 40
Credit hours in the block of
three years
1st October
to 31st March of the
No
requirement of Credit Hours in
first year of the block the First Year of the block.
Twelve
Credit Hours each in the
second and third year of the block
1st April to
30th September of the Twelve Credit Hours each in the
second year of the block second and third year of the block
1st October
to 31st March of the
No requirement
of Credit Hours in
second year of the block the second year of the block.
Twelve Credit Hours in the third
year of the block
1st April to
30th September of the Twelve credit Hours in that year
third year of the block
1st October to 31st March of the
No
requirement of Credit Hours in
third year of the block that block
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].
5.2 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.
6.
FUNCTIONS OF THE LEARNING PROGRAM CENTRES
6.1 To conduct programs on current topics for the
benefit of the members.
6.2 To maintain attendance record of the member
attending the program in a manner which will be prescribed.
6.3 To furnish periodic Activity and Attendance
Report to the Headquarters of the ICSI for updation in the master database.
7.
OBLIGATIONS OF THE MEMBER
7.1 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.
7.2 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.
8.
MANNER OF CALCULATION OF PROGRAM CREDIT HOURS (PCH)
8.1 No
Program Credit Hours will be awarded for any learning program whose duration is
less than 1 hour.
8.2 The
basis of calculation of Program Credit Hours will be as under:
No. of hours of
Learning Program Program Credit
attended by the
member
Hours (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 1 ½ days
6
Program
spanning 2days
8
Program
spanning 2 ½ days and above/ 10
National Convention
8.3 A
member whose article is published in the “Chartered Secretary” will be entitled
to 4 Program Credit Hours.
In
respect of joint authorship of the article, the two credit hours be awarded to
each author. However, the joint authorship should be limited to two authors
only.
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.
8.4 If the Course Coordinator attends the full
program, full credit of the Program Credit Hours allotted for the program will
be given.
8.5 No
Program Credit Hours shall be given to a member for acting as a faculty in Oral
Tuition Classes.
8.6 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.
8.7 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.
8.8 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.
9. MONITORING REQUIREMENTS
9.1 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.
9.2 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.
10.
These Guidelines are effective from 1st January, 2008.
Annexure
MECHANISM FOR MAINTENANCE OF ATTENDANCE RECORDS OF MEMBERS AT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES AND ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES FOR PROGRAMME
CREDIT HOURS (PCH)
The Council has considered and approved the following
mechanism for maintenance of attendance records of members at professional
development programmes and issuance of certificates for Program Credit Hours
under the Guidelines for Compulsory Attendance of Professional Development
Programmes by Members:
1. The
Program Centre shall ensure the quality of the programmes organized by it by
inviting faculty having adequate knowledge, expertise and experience in the
given subject/topic for discussion.
The
brochure for every professional development programme should indicate the
programme Credit Hours to be awarded to the participants.
2. The Program Centre will record the attendance
of the participants and maintain the same for future reference and issue the
certificates for Program Credit Hours in the prescribed format.
3. The Directorate of Information Technology in
the Headquarters will develop software for recording and maintaining the
attendance of members at the Professional Development Programmes and send to
all Regional Councils/Chapters/Satellite Chapters.
4. The headquarters will initially provide to
Regional Councils printed blank formats of certificates, which will be serially
numbered.
5. Regional Councils/Chapters/Satellite
Chapters will maintain the list of names and membership numbers of the
participants as well as faculty/Chairman/Speaker and Program Credit Hours given
to each of them together with their signatures duly authenticated by competent
authority for this purpose.
Explanation
: Competent authority means (i) in the case of Regional Council
Chairman or Secretary of the Regional Council or Executive Officer (ii) in the
case of Chapter/Satellite Chapter, Chairman or Secretary or Executive Officer,
if any, of the Chapter/Satellite Chapter.
A
Register be prepared for recording names of participants and obtaining their signatures
both at the beginning as well as at the end of the programme.
6.
At the time of renewal of membership every year, the members will send a
declaration stating the name of the programmes attended, program learning
centre, place, date, duration and number of Program Credit Hours secured during
the calendar year to the Directorate of Training and Membership of the ICSI.
THE
INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA
Northern/Eastern/Western/Southern
India Regional Council
CERTIFICATE
FOR PROGRAM CREDIT HOURS
Name of the Program Learning Centre:
...........................................
This is to certify that Ms./Mr
............................................. attended
............................................. (Name of the Programme) held on
................................. at ................................. for
.................................
days/hours ................................. as a participant/faculty/speaker/ course
coordinator/chairman in a technical session.
According to the Institute’s Guidelines for Compulsory
Attendance of Professional Development Programmes by Members, she/he is hereby
awarded .................................
Program Credit Hours.
Competent Authority
Date
Place
THE INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA
CERTIFICATE
FOR PROGRAM CREDIT HOURS
This is to certify that Ms./Mr
................................. has
contributed an article in Chartered Secretary/Convention Souvenir, which was
published in the Month of ................................. .
According to the Institute’s Guidelines for Compulsory
Attendance of Professional Development Programmes by Members, she/he is hereby
awarded ................................. Program Credit Hours.
Competent
Authority
Date
Place
THE INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA
CERTIFICATE
FOR PROGRAM CREDIT HOURS
This is to certify that Ms./Mr ........................ has contributed an article in
........................ a
Newspaper/worked on research project/prepared or vetted backgrounder or technical
material/participated in interactive media programs
........................ .
According to the Institute’s Guidelines for Compulsory
Attendance of Professional Development Programmes by Members and as per the
decision of the Professional Development Committee at its meeting held on
........................ she/he is
hereby awarded ........................ Program Credit Hours.
Competent
Authority
Date
Place
Salient
Features of the
Scheme for Programme Credit Hours (PCH)
for Company Secretary in Employment approved by the Council on 29.12.2007