Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has cancelled the May 2020 CA examination amidst the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. The exam will be merged with the November 2020 examination with carryover of all the benefits available to the students, said the ICAI notification.

In a notification released on Friday, the Institute said, “the severity of COVID 19 Pandemic was expected to subside from the later part of June 2020, but has rather become more severe and, therefore a Review as per announcement dated 15 June 2020 has become necessary.”

The notification further said that students who have applied to appear for the May exam will have an option to change the group(s) of their appearance and the examination centre when applying for the November exam. The application process for November exam is expected to begin on November 1.

Here is the direct link to access the ICAI May exam cancellation announcement.

The ICAI was scheduled to be conducted from July 29 to August 16. The ICAI earlier had offered students to opt-out of the exam if they had concerns regarding participating in the exam amid the pandemic. The Institute had said that students who opt-out, all the examination fees and exemptions will be carried forward and shifted to the next examination cycle.

Earlier in the week, ICAI had sought time from the Supreme Court to assess the feasibility for conducting CA exams scheduled to be conducted in July and August, The court is hearing a plea from a petitioner who had urged the Court to quash the opt-out notification as it violates the fundamental rights under the Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.