The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has announced its plans to roll out new Information Systems Audit Standards to optimise audit practices for startups, fintechs, and ecommerce businesses.
As reported by the Economic Times, ICAI’s representatives stated that these standards are set to help chartered accountants (CAs) identify IT-related risks, including cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and system failures during audit processes.
Regulating the current Indian financial landscape
These new measures will offer recommendations for the mitigation of such risks. ICAI’s standards will apply to financial audits across several sectors, underlining the scaling reliance on technology in contemporary business operations.
Additionally, according to a person familiar with the moves, as more Indian businesses are leveraging digital platforms, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and cloud systems, traditional financial auditing is no longer sufficient. The upcoming measures are set to provide a structured approach for evaluating the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of IT systems and will centre on effective financial reporting, fraud detection and prevention, and the creation of solid governance frameworks, among others.
These advancements are set to allow CAs to bring more services to the market and expand their expertise in system audits, IT governance assessments, cybersecurity evaluations, and ERP implementation audits.
Furthermore, the news follows India’s Comptroller and Auditor General's encouragement for auditors from last year to constantly improve their skills to ensure that relevant and actionable inputs are offered to all stakeholders on controls related to information security, data privacy, and transparency.
India’s fintech landscape in 2025
India’s fintech sector is expected to reach USD 150 billion, with this expansion mostly driven by UPI expansion, digital lending, AI-enabled banking, and regulatory support. Among the key opportunities are:
- Embedded Finance, with more companies integrating payments, lending, and insurance directly into the customer journey;
- AI and blockchain adoption, as smart contracts and AI-powered underwriting scale efficiency;
- Financial inclusion in Tier 2 and 3 cities, with over 60% of fintech growth currently being supported by non-metro regions.
