ICMAI wants med insurance, essential commodities under cost audit ambit

Kolkata, Jul 3, 2025

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) has written to Centre to bring medical insurance under the ambit of cost audit through Section 148 of the Companies Act, 2013. It has also sought the inclusion of essential commodities and banking sectors under cost audit to prevent price inflation.

ICMAI president Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak said: "For medical insurance, there is a mismatch between how much consumers pay and the benefits they reap. While Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) has set a national goal of insurance for all by 2047, we are requesting the govt to make it mandatory for medical insurance companies to opt for cost audits."

Regarding essential commodities, ICMAI is looking at price control by auditing production or manufacturing costs.

Chittaranjan Chattopadhyay, a council member of the institute, said: "Sometimes, companies offer huge discounts on certain products, and cost audits, if done, will reveal the higher profit margins that pinch the pockets of consumers. Before the pandemic, a packet of biscuits under a leading brand cost Rs 22, and now it has shot up to Rs 40. Until cost audit becomes mandatorily imposed on companies manufacturing essential commodities, it will be difficult to arrest price inflation in retail markets."

ICMAI, set up in 1944, shifted its headquarters from Kolkata to New Delhi this April.

[The Times of India]