"This action has been taken on account of the failure on the part of the audit firm to comply with a specific direction issued by RBI with respect to its statutory audit of a Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial Company," the Reserve Bank of India said in its statement.

The two-year ban starts from April 1, 2022.

A source familiar with the matter said the central bank action was enforced because of lapses in SREI group company finances which the accountancy firm should have disclosed in its audit reports. According to financial statements issued by Srei Infrastructure, Haribhakti and Co. were statutory auditors for the company between financial years 2016 and 2020.

India's central bank earlier in the month said it will initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd and Srei Equipment Finance Ltd, and replaced the non-banking financial companies' boards on governance concerns and defaults.

However, the RBI said the ban will not impact audit assignments in regulated entities for the current financial year that ends on March 31.

This is the first debarment under section 45MAA of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, which allows the central bank to remove or debar auditors for a maximum period of three years at a time if the audit firm fails to comply with RBI's direction.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)