Sandeepp Saxena
With a view to establish the primacy of its social intent, of the projects/programs/activities of social enterprises, SEBI came up with a new class of auditors, the social auditors. Recently SEBI in the notification dated July 25, 2022, on the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (Third Amendment) regulations by social enterprises has set the tone for the formation of the Social Stock Exchange in India, as a separate segment of a recognized stock exchange, to facilitate fundraising by social enterprises, both for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations.
As per the notification, a social auditor is defined as an individual registered with a self-regulatory organization (SRO) under the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI). In this regard, Sustainability Standards Reporting Board (SRSB) of ICAI has developed “Framework for Social Audit Standards” and Social Audit Standards (SAS) on the 16 thematic areas of impact reporting.
CA. Sangam Aggarwal, Secretary NIRC of ICAI informed that in order to create awareness about the same among the NGOs/NPOs and to take their valuable inputs, the NIRC of ICAI is conducting outreach programs on for the NGOs/NPOs along with SRSB of ICAI chaired by CA. Sanjeev Singhal, CCM , and other stakeholders . The program addresses the key questions related to Social Stock Exchange for the concerned stakeholders in understanding stock exchange ecosystem. The outreach programs are attended well by delegates from social sector.