Which assurance standard must our BRSR Core assurance provider follow?

SEBI does not mandate one. Its LODR FAQs (April 2025) say a provider may use a globally accepted standard such as ISAE 3000 or ISSA 5000, or ICAI's SSAE 3000 or SAE 3410, and the standard used must be disclosed. An assessment follows the Industry Standards Forum's standards instead. The provider need not be a Chartered Accountant.

The standards SEBI names

SEBI's FAQ says the Master Circular does not mandate or recommend any specific assurance standard. It gives these as standards a provider may appropriately use:

• ISAE 3000, the International Standard on Assurance Engagements.
• ISSA 5000, the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance.
• ICAI's SSAE 3000, the Standard on Sustainability Assurance Engagements.
• ICAI's SAE 3410, "Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements".

Assessment has its own rulebook

If the board chose assessment rather than assurance, the provider works to the standards of the Industry Standards Forum, made up of ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI under the aegis of the stock exchanges and developed in consultation with SEBI. The three associations and the exchanges publish those standards on their websites.

Who can sign

• Any profession: SEBI calls the work profession agnostic. The board must make sure the provider has the expertise for sustainability assurance or assessment.
• Not your internal auditor, or the internal auditor of any group company.
• Your statutory auditor, if it meets SEBI's competence and independence conditions.
• No one who sells you products or any non-audit service, consulting included, across your group.

Put this in writing before work starts

1. The standard the provider will use, by name, since you must disclose it.
2. Whether it is assurance or assessment, and that it covers the BRSR Core indicators.
3. The provider's independence check against SEBI's conflict rules.
4. The board's reason for the choice, recorded in its minutes.

What Senseible does here

Senseible links each energy and emission figure to the bill or invoice behind it, so whichever standard your provider follows, it can sample the source document. Senseible does not do assessment or audit work itself.

• BRSR reporting from your records
• Assurance or assessment for BRSR Core
• ISSA 5000, ISAE 3410 and ISO 14064-3

Sources: SEBI, FAQs for LODR Regulations, Section V: BRSR Core (updated 23 April 2025)

Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Check for later SEBI FAQs or circulars that name a standard.