True account: Why Indian companies don't sweat over high audit fees

One segment accounts for the majority of the industry's income, and it is not complaining

Rising audit fees have upset companies in the US and the UK since the pandemic began three years ago. Companies listed in the UK’s FTSE 100 even wrote a joint letter to large auditors over escalating costs, after expenses reportedly rose 22 per cent in four years.

Indian audit fees have also increased 20 per cent in the last four years, shows a Business Standard analysis of 362 firms on the S&P BSE 500 index with comparable data since financial year 2017-18 (FY18). Indian companies perhaps do not complain because their profits rose significantly more in the same period as