Legal Fee Squeeze

Sectoral growth has not translated into growth in fees paid for professional and legal services.

- Niti Kiran

INDIA INC. WITNESSED the slowest growth in professional and legal fees in fiscal 2017/18, thanks to greater competition among professional firms.

Corporate India’s professional and legal expenses continue to increase, but at a decelerated pace— growing at just 2 per cent in 2017/18, the slowest over five years. An analysis of 358 companies of the BSE 500 using Ace Equity database reveals curious details. In the five-year period, these costs more than doubled from 11,198 crore in 2013/14 to 23,625 crore in 2017/18. Professional and legal fees include expenses such as auditor’s remuneration, licences fees, and fees to external consultants.