Privacy & Confidentiality Policy

1. Commitment to Client Confidentiality

Vanguard & Associates (“the Firm”, “we”, “our”) considers client confidentiality as an absolute statutory and moral covenant. As practicing members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), we are bound by Section 22 of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 and Clause (1) of Part I of the Second Schedule to the Act, prohibiting the disclosure of information acquired in the course of professional engagements to any person other than the client without consent, except where required by law.

2. Nature of Information Collected

When engaging with our portal or retaining our services, we may collect:

• Identity and Contact Data: Full Name, email, telephone number, residential/corporate address.
• Statutory Identification Data: Permanent Account Number (PAN), Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN), Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), and Corporate Identity Number (CIN).
• Accounting & Financial Data: Trial balances, ledger sheets, bank statements, sales registers, and previous year tax returns.
• Technical Data: Internet protocol (IP) address, browser type, and operating system used during portal access for anti-fraud rate limiting.

3. Purpose and Legal Basis of Processing

Information collected is strictly utilized to:

• Execute agreed professional services pursuant to an ICAI Engagement Letter.
• Schedule, verify, and confirm consultation appointments requested by the client.
• Prepare and upload statutory filings before the Income Tax Department, GSTN portal, and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
• Comply with anti-money laundering (PMLA) obligations and statutory audit verification.

4. Private Document Storage & Data Isolation

All financial statements, tax dossiers, and identification records are maintained inside private, encrypted document vaults isolated from public server directories. Documents are accessible exclusively to authorized Partners and assigned practice associates holding verified administrative credentials. We never monetize, sell, lease, or distribute client data to any commercial third party.

5. Retention & Destruction of Records

Statutory workpapers and audit documentation are retained in accordance with Standard on Quality Control (SQC) 1 issued by ICAI for a minimum period of 7 years from the date of the audit report, after which digital and physical records are safely purged unless ongoing appellate proceedings necessitate extended custody.

6. Privacy Inquiries & Grievances

For questions or requests regarding your data rights, please contact our Compliance Partner:
Compliance Officer: CA. Rajeshwar Sharma, FCA
Email: privacy@vanguardca.in
Office: Suite 402, Nariman Point Commercial Tower, Mumbai 400021