Investor Charter – Depository Participant
Rights and obligations of investors in the depository system, service standards, and grievance procedures.
Investor Charter - Depository Participant
1. Vision
Towards making Indian Securities Market - Transparent, Efficient, & Investor friendly by providing safe, reliable, transparent and trusted record keeping platform for investors to hold and transfer securities in dematerialized form.
2. Mission
- To hold securities of investors in dematerialised form and facilitate its transfer, while ensuring safekeeping of securities and protecting interest of investors.
- To provide timely and accurate information to investors with regard to their holding and transfer of securities held by them.
- To provide the highest standards of investor education, investor awareness and timely services so as to enhance Investor Protection and create awareness about Investor Rights.
3. Details of business transacted by the Depository and Depository Participant (DP)
A Depository is an organization which holds securities of investors in electronic form. Depositories provide services to various market participants - Exchanges, Clearing Corporations, Depository Participants (DPs), Issuers and Investors in both primary as well as secondary markets. The depository carries out its activities through its agents which are known as Depository Participants (DP). Details available on the link provided by the Depositories : NSDL | CDSL.
4. Description of services provided by the Depository through Depository Participants (DP) to investors
(1) Basic Services
| Sr. no. | Brief about the Activity / Service | Expected Timelines for processing by the DP after receipt of proper documents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dematerialization of securities | 7 days |
| 2. | Rematerialization of securities | 7 days |
| 3. | Mutual Fund Conversion | 5 days |
| 4. | Re-conversion of Mutual fund units | 7 days |
| 5. | Transmission of securities | 7 days |
| 6. | Registering pledge request | 15 days |
| 7. | Closure of demat account | 2 days |
| 8. | Settlement Instruction | For T+1 day settlements, Participants shall accept instructions from the Clients, in physical form up to 4 p.m. (in case of electronic instructions up to 6.00 p.m.) on T day for pay-in of securities. For T+0 day settlements, Participants shall accept EPI instructions from the clients, till 11:00 AM on T day. Note: ‘T’ refers ‘Trade Day’. |
(2) Special / Value Added Services
| Sr. no. | Type of Activity / Service | Brief about the Activity / Service |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Value Added Services | Depositories also provide value added services such as: (1) Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA) (2) Transposition cum dematerialization (3) Linkages with Clearing System (4) Distribution of cash and non-cash corporate benefits (Bonus, Rights, IPOs etc.), stock lending, demat of NSC / KVP, demat of warehouse receipts etc. |
| 2. | Consolidated Account statement (CAS) | CAS is issued within 10 days from the end of the month (if there were transactions in the previous month) or half yearly (if no transactions). |
| 3. | Digitalization of services provided by the depositories | Depositories offer below technology solutions and e-facilities to their demat account holders through DPs:
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5. Details of Grievance Redressal Mechanism
(1) The Process of investor grievance redressal
- Investor Complaint/ Grievances: Investor can lodge complaint/ grievance against the Depository/DP in the following ways:
- Electronic mode: SCORES (SEBI) - Link
- Respective Depository’s web portal: NSDL Link, CDSL Link
- Emails: relations@nsdl.com, complaints@cdslindia.com
- Offline mode: Complaint forms can be submitted physically to Participants - grievance@abhipra.com.
The complaints/grievances lodged directly with the Depository shall be resolved within 21 days.
- Online Dispute Resolution (ODR): If not satisfied, file on SMARTODR platform. Link
6. Guidance pertaining to special circumstances: Termination of the DP
| Type of special circumstances | Timelines for the Activity/ Service |
|---|---|
| Depositories terminate participation or Participant surrenders participation. | Client will have a right to transfer all its securities to any other Participant of its choice without any charges for the transfer within 30 days from the date of intimation. |
7. Dos and Don’ts for Investors
DOs
- Always deal with a SEBI registered DP.
- Read all the documents carefully before signing.
- Always make payments using banking channels.
- Accept DIS book from DP only (pre-printed).
- Ensure Mobile Number and email ID are registered.
- Appoint nominee(s) for your account.
DON’Ts
- Do not share passwords, OTPs or login credentials.
- Do not sign blank instruction slips.
- Do not ignore alerts from Depository or DP.
- Do not deal with unauthorized agents.
- Do not fall prey to fixed return schemes.
8. Rights of investors
- Receive a copy of KYC and account opening documents.
- No minimum balance required. No opening charges.
- Open more than one demat account in the same name.
- Receive statement of accounts periodically.
- Cast vote via e-Voting platform.
- Right to indemnification for loss caused by negligence.
9. Responsibilities of Investors
- Provide complete and accurate documents for KYC.
- Fill forms in own handwriting; cancel blanks.
- Regularly verify balances and reconcile with trades.
- Inform any change in info linked to demat account.