Compliance & audit FAQs
65 questions answered. More on compliance & audit →
What exactly does the DPDP compliance audit cover?
The DPDP Compliance Audit is scoped for startup and early-stage organizations, covering a single product. It includes a gap assessment against DPDP Act 2023 requirements and a remediation roadmap showing which controls, notices and consent flows need fixing. It starts at ₹75,000 for that standard scope, priced as a flat starting rate rather than a custom quote.
What do we get from SOC 2 readiness consulting?
SOC 2 Readiness Consulting prepares your organization for a SOC 2 examination by identifying which trust service criteria apply, closing control and evidence gaps ahead of time, and organizing documentation the way an assessor expects to see it. As with ISO 27001, the formal SOC 2 report is issued by an independent auditor, not by Bitkosh.
Do banks and NBFCs get help with RBI security audits?
Yes, RBI Security Audit is one of the Indian regulatory and government audits Bitkosh supports, alongside SEBI, IRDAI and NPCI requirements. We baseline scope and critical assets, run an evidence-led technical assessment against RBI's security expectations, and hand over a risk-rated remediation register and executive brief so your organization is ready before the formal review.
We're SEBI regulated, can you help with our compliance audit?
Yes, SEBI Compliance Audit is part of our Indian regulatory and government audit work. We baseline scope and data classification, run an evidence-led assessment against SEBI's security requirements, and deliver a risk-rated remediation register plus an executive decision brief so your leadership can close gaps ahead of the actual review.
Does Bitkosh support IRDAI audits for insurance companies?
Yes, IRDAI Security Audit is one of the Indian regulatory and government audits Bitkosh supports, alongside RBI, SEBI and NPCI work. The engagement follows the same structure as our other regulatory audits: scope and asset baseline, evidence-led technical assessment, and a prioritized remediation register handed to your leadership ahead of the formal review.
Who handles NPCI UPI compliance audit requirements for fintechs?
Bitkosh's compliance team supports NPCI UPI Compliance Audit engagements as part of its Indian regulatory and government audit offering. The work follows the same evidence-led approach used for RBI and SEBI audits: scoping, technical assessment with traceable findings, and a remediation register so your fintech can close gaps before the formal NPCI review.
Is there support for UIDAI AUA and KUA audits?
Yes, UIDAI AUA & KUA Audit is listed among Bitkosh's Indian regulatory and government audit services. If your organization operates as an Authentication User Agency or KYC User Agency under Aadhaar, we run the same scoped process: evidence collection, technical findings and a remediation register, used across our other regulatory audit work.
What is covered under an STQC EPS cyber security audit?
STQC EPS & Cyber Security Audit is one of the Indian regulatory and government audits Bitkosh supports, alongside CERT-In, SEBI and RBI audits. As with those engagements, we scope the assessment, gather technical evidence and produce a risk-rated remediation register so your organization has a clear path to close gaps ahead of the formal review.
Do you offer help with DL SAR compliance audits?
Yes, DL SAR Compliance Audit is part of Bitkosh's Indian regulatory and government audit lineup. We run it through the same three-stage process as our other regulatory work: baselining scope and critical assets, an evidence-led technical assessment, and a prioritized remediation register and executive brief ahead of your formal audit.
How do you handle GDPR and CCPA for global customers?
GDPR and CCPA Compliance Audit sit under our data privacy compliance work alongside DPDP Act 2023 and PDPL. We assess how personal data is collected, processed and stored against whichever regulation applies to your customers, then produce a gap assessment and remediation roadmap so policies, consent flows and data handling match what each law requires.
We store patient data, do we need HIPAA compliance help?
If you handle personal or health data, HIPAA Compliance is one of the data privacy engagements Bitkosh offers, alongside DPDP, GDPR and CCPA work. We assess how that data is stored, accessed and transmitted, identify gaps against HIPAA requirements, and provide a remediation roadmap so your handling of patient data is documented and defensible.
What's the difference between ISO 27017 and ISO 27018?
ISO 27017 addresses cloud-specific security controls, while ISO 27018 covers protection of personally identifiable information stored in the cloud. Both sit alongside ISO 27001 in our global security frameworks work, and organizations running cloud infrastructure often pursue readiness for both together rather than treating them as separate projects.
Does Bitkosh help with ISO 42001 for AI systems?
Yes, ISO 42001 AI Management is included in our global security frameworks offering alongside ISO 27001, SOC 2 and PCI DSS. If your organization builds or deploys AI systems, we assess your AI management practices against the standard and identify the governance, documentation and control gaps to close before certification.
Can you help us pass a PCI DSS audit?
Yes, PCI DSS is one of the global security frameworks Bitkosh supports for organizations that store, process or transmit payment card data. We run a gap assessment against the applicable requirements, help remediate control weaknesses and prepare documentation and evidence so you are ready when the formal PCI DSS assessment happens.
What happens if we need FISMA compliance for government work?
FISMA Compliance is part of Bitkosh's global security frameworks work for organizations that need to meet US federal information security requirements, often as a condition of government contracts. We run a gap assessment against FISMA controls and build a remediation roadmap so the required documentation and evidence are ready before the compliance review.
What does a cybersecurity posture and maturity assessment involve?
A Cybersecurity Posture and Maturity Assessment benchmarks your current security controls against recognized frameworks to show where you actually stand, not just where policy documents say you stand. The output is a prioritized roadmap ranking which gaps to close first, so budget and engineering time go toward the weaknesses that matter most.
Why isn't a one-time audit report enough for compliance?
A one-time report is stale by the time you read it, because controls drift and new risks appear between audits. Bitkosh runs every audit through its own Compliance Management Platform™, which keeps control mapping and evidence collection live, so your team can see compliance status year-round instead of only at renewal time.
How much does a DPDP compliance audit cost to start?
The DPDP Compliance Audit starts at ₹75,000 for startup and early-stage scope. That covers a single product, a gap assessment against the DPDP Act 2023, and a remediation roadmap. It is a flat starting rate for standard-scope work, not a custom quote, and larger or multi-product organizations would need a scoped conversation before final pricing is confirmed.
Does the ISO 27001 readiness price include the certification audit itself?
No. The ₹1,50,000 starting rate for ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting covers the gap assessment, documentation and control implementation work needed to get your organization ready for certification. The certification audit itself, where an accredited body actually tests and certifies your organization, is billed separately and is not included in that starting rate.
What's the first thing Bitkosh does before starting a compliance audit?
Before any work begins, Bitkosh confirms authority, scope boundaries, data classification, stakeholders, critical assets and acceptance criteria. This baseline step exists so both sides agree on what is being audited and what success looks like before specialists start executing, avoiding scope disputes or missed systems later in the engagement.
Do you classify our data before the audit work begins?
Yes, data classification is part of the scope-baselining step that happens before execution starts. Alongside confirming authority, scope boundaries, stakeholders, critical assets and acceptance criteria, this ensures the audit team knows which data is sensitive or regulated before evidence collection and control testing begin, rather than discovering it mid-engagement.
What documents do we get once an audit is scoped but not yet started?
Once scoping is complete you receive a statement of work and a scope register that lay out what is being audited, the boundaries, and the acceptance criteria agreed with stakeholders. These become the reference documents both teams use throughout the engagement to confirm nothing was added or dropped from scope.
How are escalations handled if something goes wrong mid-audit?
Bitkosh's engagements run against an agreed evidence-led plan with built-in checkpoints and escalation paths, so issues are raised and resolved as they happen rather than surfacing only in a final report. Every decision and action taken during execution is kept as an auditable record, giving both teams traceability if something needs revisiting later.
Who decides which risks we accept instead of fixing right away?
That decision sits with your leadership, not with Bitkosh. The close-out phase includes a leadership readout covering technical evidence, prioritized actions and residual-risk decisions, so your organization's own decision-makers choose what gets remediated immediately versus what risk is formally accepted, with the reasoning documented for future reference.
What happens in the close-out workshop at the end of an engagement?
The close-out workshop is where Bitkosh hands over a leadership readout, the technical evidence gathered, a set of prioritized remediation actions, and any residual-risk decisions made along the way. It is structured so your team leaves with a clear, documented picture of where things stand and what to do next.
Does Bitkosh handle compliance audits for government programs?
Yes. Bitkosh's delivery process is built to work for both commercial engagements and government programs, so technical teams can act on findings and leadership can verify progress either way. Government and regulated program owners are listed among the roles this work is specifically designed around, alongside CISOs and risk teams.
Is this compliance service only useful for CISOs and security leaders?
No. While CISOs and security leadership are one audience, the engagement model is also built for IT, engineering and operations teams who implement controls, and for risk, compliance and procurement teams who need documented evidence to support their own decisions. Government and regulated program owners are included as well.
What is PDPL compliance and do you cover it?
PDPL refers to Personal Data Protection Law frameworks used in some jurisdictions outside India. Bitkosh includes PDPL compliance audits within its Data Privacy Compliance offering, alongside DPDP Act 2023, GDPR and CCPA work, for organizations that need to demonstrate personal data protection compliance beyond the Indian regulatory context.
Can you get us audit-ready before the real auditor even shows up?
Yes, that is the specific goal of Bitkosh's audit-ready, year-round approach. Rather than waiting for the assessment date, Bitkosh works to close policy, evidence and control gaps in advance, so those gaps are already fixed by the time an external auditor arrives instead of being discovered during the assessment itself.
Who do we actually speak with when we contact Bitkosh about compliance?
You talk to a compliance engineer, not a sales representative. Initial contact is meant to lead into a security assessment conversation with someone who works on the technical and regulatory side of the engagement, so the discussion covers your actual scope, risks and framework requirements rather than a generic sales pitch.
How is Bitkosh different from a typical audit firm?
Most audit firms deliver a PDF report and disappear until the next renewal. Bitkosh built its own Compliance Management Platform™ and runs every audit through it, so engagements come with continuous evidence collection and live control mapping your team can see between audits, rather than a static snapshot that goes stale.
Do we get a prioritized fix list or just a report of problems?
You get a prioritized fix list. Project outputs include a risk-rated remediation and POA&M register plus an executive decision brief with prioritized actions, so findings arrive ranked by risk rather than as an undifferentiated list, letting your team address the highest-impact gaps first instead of guessing at priority.
Is compliance audit pricing fixed or a custom quote every time?
Standard-scope engagements run on flat starting rates rather than a custom quote process, positioned for the India and Odisha market rather than a global enterprise budget. The DPDP Compliance Audit and ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting both list starting prices; work outside a standard scope would need its own discussion.
What counts as standard scope for your flat audit rates?
For the DPDP Compliance Audit, standard scope means startup or early-stage work covering a single product, a gap assessment, and a remediation roadmap, priced from ₹75,000. Engagements involving multiple products, larger organizations, or more complex regulatory scope fall outside this standard definition and would be scoped separately.
Do we get technical evidence or just a leadership summary?
Both. The close-out delivery includes a leadership readout for decision-makers alongside the underlying technical evidence and findings with full traceability, so executives get a decision-ready summary while technical teams retain the detailed evidence needed to verify and act on each finding themselves.
Why would our procurement team need to be involved in a compliance audit?
Procurement teams are one of the groups Bitkosh's compliance engagements are built around, alongside risk and compliance functions. Since outputs include a scope register, risk-rated findings and an executive decision brief, procurement can use that documentation to support vendor and contract decisions that depend on verified compliance evidence.
Why are Bitkosh's compliance audit rates lower than what global consulting firms charge?
Bitkosh prices standard-scope engagements at flat starting rates set for the India and Odisha market rather than a global enterprise budget. The DPDP Compliance Audit starts at ₹75,000 and ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting starts at ₹1,50,000 for defined scopes, so you get a productized rate instead of an open-ended quote calibrated to international consulting overheads. Larger or non-standard scopes are quoted separately based on what the engagement actually requires.
What's included in the ISO 27001 readiness consulting engagement?
ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting, starting at ₹1,50,000, covers a gap assessment against the standard, documentation of the required policies and procedures, and implementation of the controls needed to close identified gaps. This engagement is aimed at getting your organization ready to stand in front of a certification body, closing the gap assessment, documentation and control work before you ever schedule the formal audit.
What does "control implementation" mean in the ISO 27001 readiness service?
Control implementation is the third component of ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting, after the gap assessment and documentation stages. Once gaps against the standard are identified and required policies are written, Bitkosh's engineers help put the actual controls in place inside your organization, so the safeguards the standard requires are operating in practice and not just described on paper by the time you face a certification audit.
What's in the executive decision brief we receive at the end of an engagement?
The executive decision brief is one of the project outputs delivered in the Assure phase, alongside the close-out workshop. It distills the technical findings, prioritized actions and residual-risk decisions from the engagement into a leadership-level summary, so decision-makers can see what was found, what was fixed, what remains open, and what risks were formally accepted, without reading the full technical evidence.
What part do IT and engineering teams play in a Bitkosh compliance engagement?
Bitkosh's compliance engagements are built for the people who own the outcome, which explicitly includes IT, engineering and operations teams alongside CISOs and risk, compliance and procurement staff. During the Execute phase these teams work directly against the evidence-led plan, checkpoints and escalation paths, implementing fixes and providing technical evidence, while leadership tracks progress through the executive readout and decision brief.
How does Bitkosh keep an auditable record of decisions during an audit?
During the Execute phase, specialists follow an agreed evidence-led plan with checkpoints, escalation paths and an auditable record of decisions and actions. Every action taken and every judgment call made during the engagement is logged against that plan, so at close-out your team and any external auditor can trace exactly what was reviewed, what was found and why each decision was made.
What are checkpoints during the execution phase of a compliance audit?
Checkpoints are scheduled points during the Execute phase where Bitkosh's specialists pause to confirm progress against the agreed evidence-led plan before continuing. They sit alongside escalation paths and the auditable record of decisions and actions, giving both the technical team and leadership visibility into how the engagement is progressing rather than waiting until the final readout to find out.
Who has to confirm scope authority before Bitkosh starts an audit?
Before any work begins, Bitkosh confirms authority, scope boundaries, data classification, stakeholders, critical assets and acceptance criteria with your organization. This means someone with the authority to approve the engagement on your side, typically from leadership, risk or compliance, has to sign off on what is being reviewed and what "done" looks like before the Execute phase starts.
How does Bitkosh decide what counts as a critical asset during scoping?
Identifying critical assets is one of the steps Bitkosh completes during the Scope phase, alongside confirming authority, scope boundaries, data classification, stakeholders and acceptance criteria. This is done jointly with your team before work begins, since your organization is best placed to say which systems, data stores or processes matter most and therefore need the closest attention during the audit.
Which stakeholders get pulled in when Bitkosh scopes a compliance audit?
The Scope phase explicitly includes identifying stakeholders alongside confirming authority, scope boundaries, data classification, critical assets and acceptance criteria. In practice this spans the people named as the audience for the whole engagement: CISOs and security leadership, IT and engineering teams, risk, compliance and procurement staff, and, for government work, the relevant program owners.
Is the Compliance Management Platform a Bitkosh product or just an internal tool?
The Compliance Management Platform™ is one of Bitkosh's own products, and it is also the software that powers Bitkosh's compliance audits. Rather than handing you a static PDF, every audit runs through this platform for live control mapping and continuous evidence collection, so it functions both as a Bitkosh product in its own right and as the engine behind the audit service itself.
Does Bitkosh run government audits differently from commercial engagements?
No. Whether the work is a commercial engagement or a government program, Bitkosh structures it the same way: a Scope phase to baseline the mission, an Execute phase run with traceability, and an Assure phase that transfers capability back to your team. This keeps the process consistent so technical teams can act and leadership can verify progress regardless of who the client is.
Can the ₹75,000 starting DPDP audit price cover more than one product?
The ₹75,000 starting price for the DPDP Compliance Audit is scoped for startup and early-stage engagements covering a single product, including the gap assessment and remediation roadmap. If your organization has more than one product or a larger data footprint to cover, that falls outside the standard scope and would need its own quote rather than the flat starting rate.
Do our risk and compliance teams need a seat at the table too?
Yes. Bitkosh's compliance engagements are explicitly built around risk, compliance and procurement teams as well as CISOs, IT and engineering staff. Risk and compliance input matters most during scoping, where acceptance criteria are agreed, and again at the Assure phase, where these teams help decide which findings get fixed immediately and which risks are formally accepted as residual risk.
Is the audit process different for a DPDP engagement versus ISO 27001?
No, both follow the same three-phase structure: Scope to baseline authority, boundaries and acceptance criteria; Execute with an evidence-led plan, checkpoints and escalation paths; and Assure, which delivers a leadership readout, technical evidence and a close-out workshop. What changes between DPDP and ISO 27001 is the framework being assessed against and the specific documents and controls each one requires.
Is the executive decision brief a document or part of the close-out workshop?
The executive decision brief is listed as a project output alongside the close-out workshop, and both are delivered in the Assure phase. The brief is the written leadership-facing document summarizing findings, prioritized actions and residual-risk decisions, while the close-out workshop is the structured session where that material is walked through and capability is formally transferred to your team.
Can we get just a posture and maturity assessment without a full compliance audit?
Yes, Posture and Maturity Assessment is listed as its own service category, separate from the Indian regulatory audits, data privacy compliance and global security framework work Bitkosh offers. It benchmarks your organization against recognized frameworks and produces a prioritized roadmap to close every gap found, so you can commission it on its own before deciding whether to pursue a specific certification or regulatory audit.
Do global framework audits like PCI DSS also come with a POA&M register?
Yes. The project outputs Bitkosh delivers, including the statement of work and scope register, technical findings with evidence and traceability, the risk-rated remediation and POA&M register, and the executive decision brief with close-out workshop, apply across engagement types. A PCI DSS engagement follows the same Scope, Execute and Assure structure as any other framework or regulatory audit Bitkosh runs.
What counts as being in scope versus out of scope for an audit?
Scope boundaries are one of the items Bitkosh confirms with your team before work begins, alongside authority, data classification, stakeholders, critical assets and acceptance criteria. Setting this upfront means both sides agree on which systems, products or business units are covered by the engagement, so there is no dispute later about whether a particular finding or fix falls inside or outside its boundaries.
What counts as acceptance criteria when Bitkosh scopes an audit?
Acceptance criteria are the specific conditions we agree with you upfront that define when the audit's scope of work is considered met. They are set during scoping, alongside confirming authority, scope boundaries, data classification, stakeholders and critical assets, before any assessment work begins. Agreeing these criteria early means both sides know exactly what completion looks like before execution starts.
Does our team get to see compliance evidence directly, not just a final report?
Yes, every audit runs through our own Compliance Management Platform, which gives your team live control mapping and evidence collection you can view between audits, not only at renewal time. That means visibility into what has been assessed and what evidence exists is ongoing, rather than locked inside a report you only see once the engagement ends.
Who actually performs our SOC 2 attestation audit?
The actual SOC 2 attestation must be carried out by an accredited third-party auditor, not Bitkosh, which holds no such accreditation. SOC 2 Readiness Consulting is our engagement that gets you ready for that attestation, closing policy, evidence and control gaps in advance so the independent auditor's assessment goes smoothly when it happens.
Is the same Compliance Management Platform used for every audit type?
Yes, every audit we run, whether it is DPDP, CERT-In, ISO 27001 or any other framework, goes through the same Compliance Management Platform for control mapping and evidence collection. That gives you one consistent place to track progress regardless of which regulatory or framework audit is underway, rather than a different process or tool for each engagement type.
Can Bitkosh handle Indian regulatory audits and global frameworks together?
Yes, Bitkosh's compliance work spans both Indian Regulatory and Government Audits, such as CERT-In, RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and UIDAI, and Global Security Frameworks, such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 and PCI DSS, under one engagement approach. Organizations that need to satisfy both domestic regulators and international standards at the same time do not need separate providers for each side.
Does a Bitkosh compliance engagement always start with a gap assessment?
Gap assessment is the named starting point for the DPDP Compliance Audit and ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting tiers specifically, each pairing it with a remediation roadmap or control implementation work. Before that methodology step begins, every engagement first goes through a separate scoping stage, where Bitkosh confirms authority, scope boundaries, data classification and critical assets. So gap assessment is the technical starting point within scope, not the very first conversation.
How does Bitkosh trace an audit finding back to its evidence?
Every technical finding in a Bitkosh audit is delivered with the underlying evidence and traceability attached, so each issue can be linked back to the specific control, document or system output that proves it. This sits alongside the statement of work, scope register and risk-rated remediation register as one of the standard project outputs. It keeps findings defensible for your own team and for whoever reviews them later.
How do we know if we need DPDP, ISO 27001 or SOC 2 help?
It depends on what you are being asked to prove and to whom. DPDP Compliance Audit work applies if you handle personal data of individuals in India under the DPDP Act 2023. ISO 27001 Readiness Consulting fits if you are preparing for an information security certification body's audit. SOC 2 Readiness Consulting applies when a customer or partner needs a SOC 2 attestation. Bitkosh scopes the right one with you rather than assuming.
How is a posture and maturity assessment different from a full compliance audit?
A posture and maturity assessment benchmarks your current security setup against recognized frameworks and hands you a prioritized roadmap to close gaps, without being tied to one specific regulation or certification. A full compliance audit, such as DPDP, ISO 27001 or SOC 2 work, runs through the complete scope, execution and assure process, ending in a statement of work, evidence-backed findings and a close-out workshop built around that framework's specific requirements.
Do CERT-In, RBI and SEBI audits need separate engagements with Bitkosh?
No, these fall under the same Indian Regulatory & Government Audits service, alongside IRDAI, NPCI UPI, UIDAI, STQC EPS and DL SAR audits, so you are not buying a different service track for each regulator. What does change is the specific scope, evidence and acceptance criteria for that regulator, which Bitkosh confirms with you during the scoping stage before execution begins.