The Quit Company movement among auditors continues to grow, with the auditor of Inox Wind, the wind energy firm, resigning. The auditor rather weakly said that it was seeing "time constraints due to other commitments" as it resigned.
Patankar & Associates, Chartered Accountants, were auditors of the company for the past two years, and were appointed for five years to hold office. Inox Wind had reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 55.6 crore for the March quarter, with the company seeing lower business revenues YoY. Companies have been seeing a rash of recent auditor recognitions as auditing rules have become more stringent post the Nirav Modi scam. Manpasand Beverages was the most recent company to report an auditor resignation, which drove multiple analysts to issue SELL calls on company stock.
A regulatory change has made Indian auditors more cautious. The government has set up the NFRA (National Financial Reporting Authority) which can monitor auditors more closely and issue stringent punishments. Auditors are now resigning at the sign of red flags that they are unable to fully verify, causiing consternation among investors.