Articleship transfer after year one: ICAI's consent before Form 109
In the first year of articles you can change principals by mutual agreement, but from the first anniversary of your Form 103 date (moved later by any excess leave) you need one of ICAI's listed
Summary
In the first year of articles you can change principals by mutual agreement, but from the first anniversary of your Form 103 date (moved later by any excess leave) you need one of ICAI's listed grounds and the Institute's consent before your principal signs Form 109. "Better exposure" is not a ground, and although several guides say industrial training needs no consent, ICAI's own announcement lists it among the grounds that do.
The situation
The question usually arrives in the second year. A trainee has found a bigger firm, or a parent has been posted to another city, or the stipend has stopped arriving. The principal agrees to let them go and signs Form 109 that afternoon. The trainee joins the new firm and files Forms 102 and 103. Then the Regional Office asks for the permission letter, and there isn't one.
Nine or ten guides restate the transfer rules, and three of them contradict each other on points that matter: how long the free period lasts, whether "better exposure" counts, and whether industrial training needs permission. What decides a case is the order of the steps and the ground you can prove.
The rule
Year one is free. ICAI's Articleship FAQ (20 August 2024) permits transfer or termination during the first year with the principal's agreement and a self-declaration on Form 109. It sets no limit on the number of first-year moves. The first year ends twelve months after your Form 103 commencement date, pushed later by any excess leave. One guide says "first six months" for the two-year scheme. ICAI's FAQ says the first year.
After year one, a listed ground and consent first. ICAI's announcement of 30 June 2009 under Regulation 56 lists the circumstances in which articles may be terminated after the first year, and it sets the order: "the articled assistants are required, in the first instance, to get the consent of the Institute before getting Form 109 signed by the Principal." The request goes on plain paper, with the principal's recommendation and self-attested evidence.
| Ground | The condition you must be able to show |
|---|---|
| Medical grounds | Discontinuance of at least three months; Government hospital certificate |
| Working parent transferred | New posting at least 50 km away; transfer order and proof of relocation |
| Marriage | Relocation to another city at least 50 km away |
| Principal moving city | More than 50 km |
| Irregular or non-payment of stipend | Payments below the Regulation 48 minimum, documented |
| Misconduct involving moral turpitude | Documented |
| Serving the balance abroad | An eligible member outside India |
| Industrial training (Regulation 51) | Last year, 9–12 months, three months' notice to the principal |
| Any other justifiable cause | ICAI's discretion, on the principal's recommendation |
Death or cessation of the principal is a different route. The articles end, and the service certificate comes on Form 110 (from the legal representative) or Form 111 (from a surviving partner) under ICAI's rules on termination.
The clocks. Form 109 reaches ICAI within 30 days of termination. The new deed (Form 102) and Form 103 are filed within 30 days of starting with the new principal. Days between firms are not training: they move your end date, and they can move your CA Final sitting.
Where people go wrong
"Better exposure." One popular guide lists it as a ground if the principal signs an explanation. ICAI's list does not contain it. At most it falls under "any other justifiable cause", which is discretionary. Plan on a refusal.
Signing Form 109 first. This is the step that cannot be undone. A Form 109 signed before consent leaves you out of your current articles with no permission for the move.
Industrial training without consent. Several guides describe industrial training as a Form 104 route with no permission step. ICAI's 2009 announcement lists "Industrial Training (Regulation 51)" among the grounds it governs, under the consent-first instruction. The sources conflict. The safer order is to ask ICAI before Form 109 is signed.
Reading the old Regulation 51 bar. ICAI revised the industrial-training eligibility with effect from 1 January 2026 (announcement of 12 January 2026, as reproduced). The organisation now needs fixed assets of ₹10 crore or more, or turnover of ₹50 crore or more, or paid-up capital of ₹1 crore with net worth of ₹5 crore. It also needs at least two full-time Chartered Accountants, each a member for three continuous years. You need both groups of Intermediate passed and twelve months of training completed. ICAI's own Regulation 51 page still shows the older, lower figures.
Citing the wrong stipend figures. The ground turns on the Regulation 48 minimum as revised in
- For cities of 20 lakh or more, that is ₹4,000, ₹5,000 and ₹6,000 a month in years one to three. Draft amendments proposing higher bands closed for comments on 5 August 2026. The last check (14 September) found them not yet in the Gazette, so the 2023 bands still apply.
What to do
- Find your Form 103 date, add twelve months, and push it later by any excess leave. If today is before that date, you are still in the free year.
- After it, name your ground from ICAI's list and collect the evidence it needs: the transfer order, the 50 km proof, the hospital certificate or the stipend record.
- Apply to ICAI with the principal's recommendation and get the consent in writing before anyone signs Form 109. Do this for industrial training too.
- Have the new principal lined up so that Forms 102 and 103 go in within 30 days and the gap between firms is as short as you can make it.
- Recheck your CA Final sitting against the new end date before you resign.
The tool
I built this resolver after my students kept arriving with three guides that disagreed. You answer five questions: your scheme, your start date, why you want to move, whether your principal will sign, and whether you have a new principal. It tells you whether you are still in the free year, how many days of it are left, whether your reason is an ICAI ground and whether you meet its condition, and the route in order, with the clocks and the evidence list. Where the sources conflict (the six-month reading, the industrial-training consent step, the stipend bands) it flags the conflict rather than choosing silently. It does not predict whether ICAI will grant a discretionary request, it does not file anything or touch the SSP, and it does not compute your leave (the sibling leave tracker does). Nothing leaves your browser.
Open the articleship transfer page
Sources
- ICAI announcement of 30 June 2009 on transfer and termination of articles, reproduced by TaxGuru — https://taxguru.in/chartered-accountant/icai-specified-some-more-conditions-for-transfertermination-of-articleship.html
- ICAI Articleship FAQ, 20 August 2024 — https://icai-call-sahayata.icai.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Articleship-FAQ-NEW-20-08-2024-2.pdf
- ICAI — termination of articles, Forms 110 and 111 — https://www.icai.org/post/809
- ICAI revised industrial-training eligibility, announcement of 12 January 2026, reproduced by VSI Jaipur — https://www.vsijaipur.com/icai-news/revised-icai-industrial-training-eligibility-criteria-2026/
- ICAI — Regulation 51 (pre-2026 text) — https://www.icai.org/post/784
- Taxscan — ICAI doubles articleship stipend (2023 revision of Regulation 48) — https://www.taxscan.in/good-news-to-ca-students-icai-doubles-ca-articleship-stipend/292362
- CAclubindia — draft Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on stipend — https://www.caclubindia.com/news/icai-proposes-higher-stipend-for-ca-articleship-students-under-draft-amendment-regulations-2026-26641.asp