Section 24 of the Company Secretaries Act: Who May Legally Call Themselves a CS?

Last Updated On -21 Sep 2026

By Sajith R S

Commerce student checking Section 24 of the CS Act before using the Company Secretary title

The Company Secretary designation carries both professional value and legal responsibility in India. Completing the CS Executive or Professional Programme is an important achievement, but it does not automatically make a student a member of ICSI. Until membership is formally granted, the use of titles such as CS, ACS, and FCS remains restricted under Section 24 of the CS Act, 1980.

This distinction matters because the designation represents recognised professional status, not simply progress in the course. Using it without valid membership can lead to legal and professional consequences, even when there is no intention to misrepresent your qualification.

This guide explains what Section 24 says, who may legally use the designation, what you can write while you are still studying, and how the CS course route connects with appointment requirements under the Companies Act, 2013.

What Section 24 of the CS Act Actually Says?

Section 24 is in the penalties chapter of the Act, under the heading Penalty for falsely claiming to be a member. It applies to four situations:

Someone who isn’t a member of ICSI represents that they are a member
A non-member uses the designation Company Secretary
A non-member writes A.C.S or F.C.S after their name
A member who holds no Certificate of Practice claims to be in practice or actually practises as a Company Secretary

The penalties, as the section currently stands, are:

First conviction: a fine of up to ₹1 lakh
Any later conviction: imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to ₹5 lakh, or both

Read the fourth situation again. It catches fully qualified members, not just students. A member working in a company cannot moonlight as a practising professional without holding a Certificate of Practice under Section 6. This part of company secretary law surprises people far more than the student restriction does.

Who May Legally Call Themselves a Company Secretary

Only members of ICSI may legally use the designation. The position is easiest to understand through four common categories:

Associate members (ACS) — those who have completed the examinations and practical training, applied for membership, and received a membership number
Fellow members (FCS) — associates who have completed the prescribed period of continuous membership and met the other applicable conditions
Members holding a Certificate of Practice — the only members who may describe themselves as a Company Secretary in practice, take clients, or sign professional certifications
A member appointed by a company as its Company Secretary under the Companies Act, 2013

The Companies Act does not create a separate qualification. The definition of Company Secretary under the Companies Act, 2013 appears in Section 2(24), and it points directly back to the CS Act, 1980, adding only that the person must be appointed by a company to perform the functions of a company secretary. Section 2(25) does the same for a company secretary in practice. One profession, one register, and two statutes referring to each other.

What You Can Write Instead

While you are still completing the course or waiting for membership, these descriptions are accurate and still carry weight with recruiters:

CS Executive qualified, pursuing CS Professional
CS Professional Programme student, ICSI
Company Secretary trainee at [firm name] during practical training
ACS (Membership No. 12345) once your membership number is issued

Keep the CS prefix off visiting cards, WhatsApp display names, email signatures, and wedding invitations until then. Hiring managers in this field can verify membership numbers through the ICSI portal. Getting caught overstating your status early can cost you far more than the two lines you gained.

The Company Secretary Qualification Route

The main path to the designation is fixed, and each stage is a gate:

CSEET after Class 12, with direct entry to the Executive Programme available to graduates and postgraduates
CS Executive Programme
CS Professional Programme
21 months of practical training under the current ICSI training structure
Application for ACS membership, which is the point at which the title becomes yours
A Certificate of Practice, obtained separately, if you intend to practise

One search habit is worth correcting here. Students looking up the Company Secretary Act 1982 are usually looking for the Company Secretaries Regulations, 1982—the regulations framed under the 1980 Act that govern registration, exemptions, examinations, and training. The Act creates the profession. The Company Secretaries Regulations run the machinery. Both are available on the ICSI website. Our detailed CS registration guide covers the registration windows and cut-off dates.

Company Secretary Requirement as per Companies Act

The applicability of Company Secretary appointments is threshold-based, and those thresholds show where much of the job market actually sits:

Every listed company, and every other public company with paid-up share capital of ₹10 crore or more, must have whole-time key managerial personnel, including a Company Secretary, under Section 203 read with Rule 8 of the Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel) Rules, 2014
Every private company with paid-up share capital of ₹10 crore or more must have a whole-time Company Secretary under Rule 8A
Secretarial audit under Section 204 applies to listed companies, public companies with paid-up capital of ₹50 crore or more or turnover of ₹250 crore or more, and any company with outstanding loans or borrowings from banks or public financial institutions of ₹100 crore or more

That last report can be signed only by a Company Secretary in practice, which is where the Certificate of Practice stops being paperwork and starts becoming a source of income.

There is relevant Company Secretary case law on the private-company threshold too. When the ₹10 crore figure under Rule 8A was challenged before the Supreme Court, the Court declined to strike it down. It held that a policy threshold of this kind is not arbitrary simply because the profession would prefer a lower one.

Duties of Company Secretary Under Companies Act

Section 205 lists the functions, and Rule 10 fills in the rest. The duties of the Company Secretary under the Companies Act include:

Reporting to the Board on compliance with the Act, the rules, and other applicable laws
Ensuring that the company follows applicable secretarial standards
Convening board and general meetings and maintaining minutes and statutory registers
Filing returns and forms with the Registrar and other authorities
Advising directors, collectively and individually, on their powers and duties

Read that list as a job description rather than a statute. It is the reason CS company law work is treated as a governance role, not a clerical one.

How the CS Act Is Enforced in Practice?

Enforcement is uneven, and it is honest to say so:

ICSI publishes advisories and acts on complaints from members, employers, and students
Section 27 bars any non-member from signing documents on behalf of a Company Secretary in practice or a firm of such professionals, with heavier penalties for repeat convictions
Section 25 stops anyone from awarding a designation that imitates ICSI membership, a restriction that education providers also need to take seriously

Publicly reported prosecutions under Section 24 appear to be uncommon. That is one reason the misuse continues and why some students assume the rule is decorative. It is not. The realistic risk for most candidates is professional rather than criminal: an employer spotting an inflated designation during background verification, or a certificate signed without a Certificate of Practice being questioned by a regulator three years later.

Why This Matters For Your Career Plan?

A few practical conclusions follow from all of this:

If practice is the goal, plan for the Certificate of Practice from the start, not as an afterthought
If employment is the goal, the ₹10 crore thresholds tell you which companies are legally required to appoint a whole-time Company Secretary
Below those thresholds, there is still work, usually titled compliance executive or compliance officer, and it is a reasonable first step
The quality of your 21 months of training can shape your first salary band more than your examination marks do

Counsellors at IIC Lakshya spend a lot of time mapping this exact sequence for students: registration windows, training placement, membership, and the point at which the designation becomes legally usable. Free counselling sessions and mentor guidance are available if you want that timeline mapped to your own case.

Getting the CS Title Right Is Part of the Job

Section 24 of the CS Act is not there to embarrass students. It protects a designation that companies, banks, and regulators rely on when they accept a signature. A profession built on certifying other people’s compliance cannot be casual about its own.

So finish the examinations, complete the training, get the membership number, and then use the title with everything it carries. Until then, describe your progress accurately. It reads better than you might expect.

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