Anticipates India-UK Free Trade Agreement to Facilitate Premium Professional Services Moving into India from the UK
The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed in 2025, has opened up a wealth of opportunities for high-value professional services work in both countries. The FTA has set a framework for reciprocal audit practice rights and mutual professional qualification recognition, streamlining visa and mobility provisions to facilitate significant expansion in this sector.
Key points on expansion due to the FTA:
- Mutual Recognition of Qualifications: The FTA mandates that India and the UK work towards Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in professions like nursing, accountancy, and architecture within one year of the agreement taking effect. This mutual recognition will enable professionals, including auditors, to have their qualifications acknowledged across both countries, easing entry into each other's professional labor markets.
- Reciprocity of Audit Practice Rights: While detailed audit-specific reciprocity is not explicitly spelled out, the MRAs for accountancy imply that qualified auditors from India can more easily obtain the rights to practice in the UK and vice versa, based on recognized standards. This will eliminate or reduce duplicative certification hurdles, fostering greater mobility and service delivery.
- Professional Mobility and Visa Access: Indian professionals are allowed to work in 35 UK service sectors, including IT, accounting, business, finance, and related sectors, for durations ranging from short-term business visits (90 days) up to 3 years for intra-corporate transferees. This visa facilitation is a critical component for enabling Indian audit and professional services firms to expand operations in the UK.
- Impact on High-Value Services: The agreement opens 36 service sectors without an Economic Needs Test and clarifies professional access rules, boosting the ability of Indian firms to deliver high-value services such as audit, consultancy, and IT services in the UK market. This is supported by visa relaxation and social security exemptions for Indian professionals working in the UK up to three years.
- Strategic and Economic Benefits: The arrangement enhances bilateral trade and professional cooperation, encouraging technology transfer, joint ventures, and regulatory alignment in advanced sectors like cybersecurity and fintech, which often overlap with auditing and assurance services in risk assessment and compliance.
The Institute of Chartered Accounts in India (ICAI) has been actively involved in these developments. CA Charanjot Singh Nanda, President of ICAI, has engaged with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to ensure liberal market access and the inclusion of a reciprocity clause protecting the use of the "Chartered Accountant" title. ICAI has also facilitated provisions for commercial presence (Mode 3), enabling Indian firms to incorporate and operate in the UK with national treatment and without discriminatory restrictions.
The FTA between India and the UK provides market access and national treatment to each other's firms. However, it's important to note that statutory audit rights are not automatically reciprocal under the FTA. The FTA is a booster shot for UK-India business ties, but it doesn't affect the price of JLR vehicles significantly.
Heavy rains have hit Mumbai amid an IMD warning, causing waterlogging, traffic slowdown in the city, and a red alert for Raigad and Ratnagiri. This news is unrelated to the India-UK FTA but is an important update for the region.
A Professional Services Working Group is being set up to work on mutual recognition of qualifications (MRQs). This group is intended to help Indian Chartered Accounts gain recognition in the UK. These efforts collectively boost India's global service footprint while preserving regulatory integrity and professional standards at home.
- The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has opened opportunities for significant expansion in the professional services sector, particularly in high-value work, due to the agreement's provisions on mutual professional qualification recognition and reciprocity in audit practice rights.
- The FTA's mutual recognition of qualifications (MRQs) in professions like nursing, accountancy, and architecture, and the reciprocity of audit practice rights, will enable auditors to have their qualifications acknowledged across both India and the UK, fostering greater mobility and service delivery in these sectors.
- The FTA has also facilitated professional mobility and visa access for Indian professionals in various service sectors, including IT, accounting, business, finance, and related fields, enabling Indian audit and professional services firms to expand operations in the UK.
- The boost in service deliveries, including auditing, consultancy, and IT services, has led to increased bilateral trade and professional cooperation, encouraging technology transfer, joint ventures, and regulatory alignment in advanced sectors like cybersecurity and fintech.
- The Institute of Chartered Accounts in India (ICAI) is actively involved in these developments, ensuring liberal market access and the inclusion of a reciprocity clause protecting the use of the "Chartered Accountant" title, while also facilitating provisions for commercial presence in the UK, ultimately boosting India's global service footprint while preserving regulatory integrity and professional standards at home.
