Aditya Birla Money Limited
REPORT ON THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Opinion
We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Aditya Birla Money Limited (the "Company"), which comprise the Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2024, and the Statement of Profit and Loss (including Other Comprehensive Income), the Statement of Cash Flows and the Statement of Changes in Equity for the year ended on that date, and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of material accounting policies and other explanatory information.
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the aforesaid financial statements give the information required by the Companies Act, 2013 (the "Act") in the manner so required and give a true and fair view in conformity with the Indian Accounting Standards prescribed under Section 133 of the Act read with the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules, 2015, as amended, ("Ind AS") and other accounting principles generally accepted in India, of the state of affairs of the Company as at 31st March 2024, and its profit, total comprehensive income, its cash flows and the changes in equity for the year ended on that date.
Basis for Opinion
We conducted our audit of the financial statements in accordance with the Standards on Auditing (SAs) specified under Section 143(10) of the Act. Our responsibilities under those Standards are further described in the Auditor's Responsibility for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the Company in accordance with the Code of Ethics issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements under the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the ICAI's Code of Ethics. We believe that the audit evidence obtained by us is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion on the financial statements.
Key Audit Matter
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in our audit of the financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. we have determined the matters described below to be the key audit matters to be communicated in our report.
|
Sr. No. Key Audit Matter
|
Auditor's Response
|
|
1 Information Technology and General Controls
The financial accounting and reporting systems of the Company are fundamentally reliant on IT systems and IT controls to process significant volume of transactions.
Due to the complexity, large volume of transactions processed daily and reliance on automated and IT dependent manual controls, matter pertaining to adequacy and effectiveness of IT control environment is considered as a Key Audit Matter.
Our areas of audit focus included user access management, developer access to the production environment and changes to the IT environment. These are key to ensuring, IT dependent and application-based controls are operating effectively.
|
We understood and assessed the overall IT control environment and the controls in place which included controls over access to systems and data, as well as system changes.
Tested the design and operating effectiveness of IT access controls over the information systems that are important to financial reporting and various interfaces, configuration and other identified application controls.
Tested IT general controls (logical access, change management and aspects of IT operational controls). This included testing that requests for access to systems were appropriately reviewed and authorised.
Tested the Company's periodic review of access rights. We also inspected requests of changes to systems for appropriate approval and authorisation.
In addition to the above, we tested the design and operating effectiveness of certain automated and IT dependent manual controls that were considered as key internal financial controls with reference to financial statements.
Tested the design and operating effectiveness compensating controls in case deficiencies were identified and, where necessary, extended the scope of our substantive audit procedures.
|
Information Other than the Financial Statements and Auditor's Report Thereon
• The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Director's report but does not include the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon.
• Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
• In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained during the course of our audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
• If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.
Responsibilities of Management and Those Charged with Governance for the Financial Statements
The Company's Board of Directors is responsible for the matters stated in Section 134(5) of the Act with respect to the preparation of these financial statements that give a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance including other comprehensive income, cash flows and changes in equity of the Company in accordance with the Ind AS and other accounting principles generally accepted in India, including Ind AS specified under Section 133 of the Act. This responsibility also includes maintenance of adequate accounting records in accordance with the provisions of the Act for safeguarding the assets of the Company and for preventing and detecting frauds and other irregularities; selection and application of appropriate accounting policies; making judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and design, implementation and maintenance of adequate internal financial controls, that were operating effectively for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the accounting records, relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statement that give a true and fair view and are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, management and Board of Directors are responsible for assessing the Company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Board of Directors either intends to liquidate the Company or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.
The Board of Directors are also responsible for overseeing the Company's financial reporting process.
Auditor's Responsibility for the Audit of the Financial Statements
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with SAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
As part of an audit in accordance with SAs, we exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit. We also:
• Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal financial control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances. Under Section 143(3)(i) of the Act, we are also responsible for expressing our opinion on whether the Company has adequate internal financial controls with reference to financial statements in place and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the management.
• Conclude on the appropriateness of management's use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to
the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Company to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
Materiality is the magnitude of misstatements in the financial statements that, individually or in aggregate, makes it probable that the economic decisions of a reasonably knowledgeable user of the financial statements may be influenced. We consider quantitative materiality and qualitative factors in (i) planning the scope of our audit work and in evaluating the results of our work; and (ii) to evaluate the effect of any identified misstatements in the financial statements.
We communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
We also provide those charged with governance with a statement that we have complied with relevant ethical requirements regarding independence, and to communicate with them all relationships and other matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards.
From the matters communicated with those charged with governance, we determine those matters that were of most significance in the audit of the financial statements of the current period and are therefore the key audit matters. We describe these matters in our auditor's report unless law or regulation precludes public disclosure about the matter or when, in extremely rare circumstances, we determine that a matter should not be communicated in our report because the adverse consequences of doing so would reasonably be expected to outweigh the public interest benefits of such communication.
Report on Other Legal and Regulatory Requirements
1. As required by Section 143(3) of the Act, based on our audit, we report that:
a) We have sought and obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief were necessary for the purposes of our audit.
b) In our opinion, proper books of account as required by law have been kept by the Company so far as it appears from our examination of those books except for not complying with the requirement of audit trail as stated in (i)(vi) below (refer Note 56 to the financial statements).
c) The Balance Sheet, the Statement of Profit and Loss including Other Comprehensive Income, the Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Changes in Equity dealt with by this Report are in agreement with the books of account.
d) In our opinion, the aforesaid financial statements comply with the Ind AS specified under Section 133 of the Act.
e) The modification relating to the maintenance of accounts and other matters connected therewith, is as stated in paragraph (b) above.
f) On the basis of the written representations received from the directors as on 31st March 2024 taken on record by the Board of Directors, none of the directors is disqualified as on 31st March 2024 from being appointed as a director in terms of Section 164(2) of the Act.
g) With respect to the adequacy of the internal financial controls with reference to financial statements of the Company and the operating effectiveness of such controls, refer to our separate Report in "Annexure A". Our report expresses an unmodified opinion on the adequacy and operating effectiveness of the Company's internal financial controls with reference to financial statements.
h) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with the requirements of Section 197(16) of the Act, as amended,
In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us, the remuneration paid by the Company to its directors during the year is in accordance with the provisions of Section 197 of the Act.
i) With respect to the other matters to be included in the Auditor's Report in accordance with Rule 11 of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014, as amended in our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the explanations given to us:
i. The Company has disclosed the impact of pending litigations on its financial position in its financial statements - Refer Note 50 to the financial statements.
ii. The Company did not have any long-term contracts including derivative contracts for which there were any material foreseeable losses.
iii. There were no amounts which were required to be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the Company.
iv. (a) The Management has represented that,
to the best of it's knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed in the note 52 to the financial statements, no funds have been advanced or loaned or invested (either from borrowed funds or share premium or any other sources or kind of funds) by the Company to or in any other person(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities ("Intermediaries"), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Intermediary shall, directly or indirectly lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Company ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries.
(b) The Management has represented, that, to the best of it's knowledge and belief, other than as disclosed in the note 53 to the financial statements, no funds have been received by the Company from any person(s) or entity(ies), including foreign entities ("Funding Parties"), with the understanding, whether recorded in writing or otherwise, that the Company shall, directly or indirectly, lend or invest in other persons or entities identified in any manner whatsoever by or on behalf of the Funding Party ("Ultimate Beneficiaries") or provide any guarantee, security or the like on behalf of the Ultimate Beneficiaries.
(c) Based on the audit procedures performed that has been considered reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, nothing
has come to our notice that has caused us to believe that the representations under sub-clause (i) and (ii) of Rule 11(e), as provided under (a) and (b) above, contain any material misstatement.
v. The Company has not declared or paid any dividend during the year and has not proposed final dividend for the year.
vi. Based on our examination, which included test checks, the Company has used accounting software for maintaining its books of account for the financial year ended 31st March 2024 which has a feature of recording audit trail (edit log) facility and the same has operated throughout the year for all relevant transactions recorded in the software except audit trail feature was not enabled at the database level for accounting software to log any direct data changes.
Further, during the course of our audit, we did not come across any instance of audit trail feature being tampered with, in respect of accounting software for the period for which the audit trail feature was operating.
As proviso to Rule 3(1) of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 is applicable from 1st April 2023, reporting under Rule 11 (g) of the Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules, 2014 on preservation of audit trail as per the statutory requirements for record retention is not applicable for the year ended 31st March 2024.
2. As required by the Companies (Auditor's Report) Order, 2020 (the "Order") issued by the Central Government in terms of Section 143(11) of the Act, we give in "Annexure B" a statement on the matters specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Order.
For DELOITTE HASKINS & SELLS LLP
Chartered Accountants (Firm's Registration No. 117366W/W-100018)
Mukesh Jain
(Partner) (Membership No. 108262) UDIN: 24108262BKEWZU9440
Place: Mumbai
Date: 22nd April 2024
|