As we all are aware that the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) had come out with an innovative concept of Unique Documents Identification Number (UDIN,) which needs to be generated and to mention on the certificate/report/financial issued by the Practicing CS or CA.
There have been instances where the certificates /reports have been issued by unauthorized persons misrepresenting as the member of the Institute. To curb such malpractice, both the institute has introduced the concept of UDIN. This concept will help the practicing professional to maintain their register of attestation/certification services and prevent counterfeiting of various attestation/certifications. With the help of the UDIN, the authenticity of the documents can be checked/verified by the authorities/regulators/banks/others, whether the said certificate has been issued by the same practicing professional or not. With this, even the backdated issuance of certificate/report can be prevented.
Following are the key aspect of the Unique Documents Identification Number (UDIN):
| Sl. No. | Basis | Particulars |
| 1. | Effective date | From 1st October, 2019 |
| 2. | Generated by | The members of ICSI who is having valid Certificate of Practice (COP) |
| 3. | Fees | There is no fees for generation of UDIN |
| 4. | Mode of recipient of UDIN | UDIN shall be shared on registered email id of the members or through any other electronic mode |
| 5. | Requirement for generation of UDIN | Name of recipient of the professional service, CIN/LLPIN/PAN No./Aadhar of client (as the case may be) shall be disclosed at the time of generation of UDIN |
| 6. | Validity | There is no expiry date |
| 7. | Surrender/Cancel | UDIN once generated but not utilized may be surrendered/cancelled by the PCS within 7 days of such generation |
| 8. | When to generate | At the time of signing of certificate/report |
| 9. | Services for which UDIN will be required | Following are the services for which the UDIN is mandatory:
|
| Sl. No. | Basis | Particulars |
| 1. | Effective date | For all certificates: 1st February, 2019
For all GST and Tax Audit Reports: 1st April, 2019 For all other Audit, Assurance & Attest functions: 1st July, 2019 |
| 2. | Generated by | Service rendered by full time Practicing Chartered Accountants |
| 3. | Fees | There is no fees for the generation of UDIN |
| 4. | When to Generate |
At the time of signing of certificate. However the same can be generate within 15 days of the signing.>/p> However, now the ICAI has given one time relaxation to permit generation of UDIN within 30 days in place of 15 days for the Certificate / Report / Document signed between 20th August, 2019 to 31st December, 2019. |
| 5. | Documents required for UDIN generation | No document is required to generate the UDIN |
| 6. | Validity | No expiry unless revoked |
| 7. | Amendment in the UDIN already generated | UDIN once generated cannot be edited. |
| 8. | Revocation/cancellation of UDIN | UDIN can be revoked/cancelled with narration. |
| 9. | Services for which UDIN will be required |
For all the certificates issued where the Financial information/related content is certified as True and Fair/True and Correct. For all the Audit Reports, Assurance certificates and Attestation functions. |
For the generation of Unique Documents Identification Number (UDIN) members are required to register themselves on the portal of UDIN:
For the members of ICSI: http://udin.icsi.edu/Home/MembershipRegistation
For the members of ICAI: https://udin.icai.org/register
