The announcement follows a decision taken by the ICAI Council at its meeting on December 17-18, 2018.
"The members may be aware that the 'Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN)' has been made mandatory as per the Council decision taken at its 379th meeting held on 17-18 December 2018 in the following phases 1) all certification done by practising CAs w.e.f. February 1, 2019, (2) all GST & Tax audit reports w.e.f. April 1, 2019 and 3) all other attest functions w.e.f. July 1, 2019," said the ICAI notification dated June 4.
"With a view to bring uniformity, the ICAI members must mention the UDIN immediately after their ICAI membership number while signing audit reports," it added.
The UDIN will be in addition to other requirements relating to the auditor's signature prescribed in the relevant law or regulation and the standards on auditing.
Delhi-based Chartered Accountant Vikas Gupta called it a welcome step. "The UDIN would help to verify online whether a certificate or audit report that has been submitted has actually been signed by a chartered accountant," he told .
"This would ensure transparency and pressure the auditors to take responsibility of their audits. The ICAI also will have the data of the certificates signed by its members," said Gupta.
( With inputs from IANS )