The Council of Architecture set up under the Architects Act, 1972,

The Gazette of India EXTRAORDINARY PART III—Section 4 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 687] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2024/BHADRA 12, 1946 COUNCIL OF ARCHITECTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2023-2024 New Delhi, the 18th June 2024 F.No.CA/55/2024/Annual Report.—The Council of Architecture hereby presents its Annual Report for the year 2023-2024, prepared under the Architects Act, 1972, covering the Council's constitution, its statutory functions relating to registration of architects and regulation of the architectural profession and education, its committees, activities and achievements during the year, and its audited financial statements. The report covers, among other matters: the constitution and composition of the Council and its various statutory and standing committees; the registration of architects under the Architects Act, 1972, and the state-wise number of registered architects across all States and Union Territories of India (a table listing all States/Union Territories with corresponding registration figures, running to over 39 entries); recognition and validation of architectural qualifications/institutions under the Council's regulations; conduct of the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA); pending court cases and litigation involving the Council; disciplinary and professional conduct matters; the BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) sponsorship programme and administrative charges to new architectural institutions; training programmes conducted by the Council's Training and Research Centre (TRC), including a numbered list of training programmes/quality improvement programmes conducted during the year with dates, venues and details; Training of Trainers in Universal Accessibility conducted jointly with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) under an MoU between COA and DEPwD, comprising an online module (three modules, six days) and an offline module (two modules) at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, with a Book of Abstracts released by Km. Pratima Bhowmik, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, and certificates awarded by Shri Rajesh Agarwal, Secretary, DEPwD, and Prof. Abhay V. Purohit, President, COA; and the Council's publications, namely the magazine "Architecture Time Space and People" and the "CANewletter" in e-format, together with a list of books purchased at concessional rates for distribution to architectural institutions, including titles by authors such as Ar. Suha Riyaz Khopatkar, Ar. Neelam Manjunath, Prof. Pradnya Chauhan, Ar. Surinder Bahga, Prof. Kulbhushan Jain, Ar. Sangeet Sharma, Yatin Pandya, Apurva Bose Dutta and Ar. S S Bhati. The report concludes with an acknowledgement: "The Council would like to thank Hon'ble Shri Nitin Gadkari Ji, Hon'ble Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan ji, Hon'ble Minister of Education, Govt. of India and Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon'ble Commerce Minister, Govt. of India, Chairman, Shri Hardeep Puri, Hon'ble Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs, Govt. of India, Km. Pratima Bhowmik, Minister of State of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, for their kind support and guidance to Council from time to time. The Council also expresses its gratitude to its Officers & employees and all those who have rendered useful services to it during the year 2023-24." Dated: 18.06.2024 R. K. OBEROI, Registrar REPORT ON THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS QUALIFIED OPINION To, The COUNCIL OF ARCHITECTURE We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Council of Architecture ("the Council"), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2024, the Statement of Income and Expenditure, the Statement of Receipt & Payment for the year then ended, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of the significant accounting policies and other explanatory information (herein after referred to as "Financial Statement"). In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, except for the effects of the matter described in the Basis for Qualified Opinion section of our report the aforesaid financial statement give the information required by the Council of Architecture Regulation, 1972 (as amended up to date) in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the accounting principles generally accepted in India of the state of affairs of the Council as at 31st March 2024, its surplus and its receipt & payment for the year ended on that date. Basis for Qualified Opinion We further draw attention to Note No. 3 the Council has transferred fund from "General Fund/ Surplus / Deficit account" to "House Building Premises Fund". The above fund pertains to the FY:2017-18 for Rs.10.93 Cr and for FY: 2018-19 of Rs 14.26 Cr. As per the provisions of Income tax act 1961 and rules made thereunder, which states that the earmarked funds should be used for the specific purpose only and moreover utilization of the above fund should be made within a period of Five years, from the end of the financial year of creation of the fund. During the current year, the funds for the FY: 2018-19 is not utilized up to the end of financial year, due to which it should be treated as the Taxable Income of the Council and in respect of the fund created in the FY:2017-18, utilization was required to be made on or before 31.03.2023, due to this same should be treated as taxable income of FY 2022-23, but same is not offered for tax in FY 2022-23. Due to this total income of the Council for current financial year is understated by 25.19 Cr and House Building Premises Fund is overstated by same figure, however the Council is consistently making efforts for utilisation of fund and made application for allowing extension of time for utilisation of fund for FY 2017-18 to Chairman, CBDT, which is yet to be disposed of by income tax department. We conducted our audit in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Council in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements and we have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. Responsibilities of Management for the Financial Statements The Council's Management is responsible for the preparation of these financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance the Council. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding the assets of the Council and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection, application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the management is responsible for assessing the Council's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless management either intends to liquidate the Council or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. Those charged with governance are also responsible for overseeing the Council's financial reporting process. Auditor's Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. Report on Other Regulatory Requirements Further, we report that: a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purpose of our audit; b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by Architects Act, 1972 have been kept by the Council so far as appears from our examination of those books and proper returns adequate for the purpose of our audit have been received from the branches not visited by us. c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Income and Expenditure, and the Statement of Receipt and Payment dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of accounts. For B C JAIN & Co., Chartered Accountants, FRN: 001099C Sd/- CA Shyam Ji Gupta, Partner Mem No.416155 UDIN: 24416155BKEDUA4555 Place: New Delhi, Date: 09/07/2024 BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST MARCH, 2024 (Amount – Rs.) +--------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------+-----------------+ | | Schedule | Current Year | Previous Year | +====================================================+==========+=================+=================+ | CORPUS/CAPITAL FUND AND LIABILITIES | | | | | Capital Contribution from Govt. of India | 1 | 150000.00 | 150000.00 | | Earmarked Funds | 2 | 1513260089.00 | 1336399626.00 | | Liabilities | 3 | 284024199.00 | 274840148.00 | | Surplus / Deficit Account | 7 | 490275419.27 | 450394589.97 | | TOTAL | | 2287709707.27 | 2061784363.97 | | ASSETS | | | | | Fixed Assets | 4 | 239111356.00 | 240175456.78 | | Investments | 5 | 1902346953.00 | 1689753968.00 | | Current Assets, Loans & Advances | 6 | 146251398.27 | 131854939.19 | | TOTAL | | 2287709707.27 | 2061784363.97 | +--------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------+-----------------+ INCOME & EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR ENDED ON 31ST MARCH, 2024 (Amount – Rs.) +---------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------+-----------------+ | | Schedule | Current Year | Previous Year | +============================================================+==========+=================+=================+ | INCOME | | | | | Fees | 8 | 58055887.00 | 50638887.00 | | Other Income | 9 | 104120791.81 | 108647510.51 | | Interest Earned | 10 | 107750884.00 | 88568138.84 | | TOTAL (A) | | 269927562.81 | 247854536.35 | | EXPENDITURE | | | | | Establishment Expenses | 11 | 23773418.00 | 24029122.00 | | Administrative Expenses | 12 | 15573055.21 | 14728926.61 | | Expenses related to Promotion of Education & Practice | 13 | 27310117.00 | 25751926.00 | | Depreciation | 4 | 3390143.30 | 2196892.36 | | TOTAL (B) | | 70046733.51 | 66706866.97 | | Balance being excess of Income over Expenditure (A-B) | | 199880829.30 | 181147669.38 | | Transferred to Surplus and Deficit Account | | 199880829.30 | 181147669.38 | +---------------------------------------------------------+----------+-----------------+-----------------+ RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED ON 31ST MARCH, 2024 — a detailed statement (Amount in Rs.) of Opening Balance, Receipts (Fee Income, Interest Received, Funds Received, Other Income, Other Receipts) and Payments (Establishment, Administrative, NATA & Evaluation & Inspection Expenses, Payments against various Projects, Expenditure on Fixed Assets & Capital Work-in-Progress, Investments and deposits made, Other Payments) and Closing Balance, with Current Year total receipts/payments of Rs. 637,081,550.28 and Previous Year total of Rs. 858,192,494.27. P. RAJESH, Scientist G & DDG (ITS, PRT & TNM) [ADVT.-III/4/Exty./457/2024-25] Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.