Investor charter
Vision
To follow highest standards of ethics and compliances while facilitating the trading by clients in securities in a fair and transparent manner, so as to contribute in creation of wealthforinvestors.
Mission
- To provide high quality and dependable service through innovation, capacity enhancement and use of technology.
- To establish and maintain a relationship of trust and ethics with the investors.
- To observe highest standard of compliances and transparency.
- To always keep ‘protection of investors’ interest’ as goal while providing service.
Services provided to Investors
- Execution of trades on behalf of investors.
- Issuance of Contract Notes.
- Issuance of intimations regarding margin due payments.
- Facilitate execution of early pay-in obligation instructions.
- Settlement of client’s funds.
- Intimation of securities held in Client Unpaid Securities Account (CUSA) Account.
- Issuance of retention statement of funds.
- Risk management systems to mitigate operational and market risk.
- Facilitate client profile changes in the system as instructed by the client.
- Information sharing with the client w.r.t. exchange circulars.
- Redressal of Investor’s grievances.
Rights of Investors
- Ask for and receive information from a firm about the work history and background of the person handling your account, as well as information about the firm itself.
- Receive complete information about the risks, obligations, and costs of any investment before investing.
- Receive recommendations consistent with your financial needs and investment objectives.
- Receive a copy of all completed account forms and agreements.
- Receive account statements that are accurate and understandable.
- Understand the terms and conditions of transactions you undertake
- Access your funds in a timely manner and receive information about any restrictions or limitations on access.
- Receive complete information about maintenance or service charges, transaction or redemption fees, and penalties.
- Discuss your grievances with compliance officer of the firm and receive prompt attention to and fair consideration of your concerns.
Various activities of Stock Brokers with timelines
| S.No. | Activities | Expected Timelines |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | KYC entered into KRA System and CKYCR | 10 days of account opening |
| 2. | Client Onboarding | Immediate, but not later than one week |
| 3. | Order execution | Immediate on receipt of order, but not later than the same day |
| 4. | Allocation of Unique Client Code | Before trading |
| 5. | Copy of duly completed Client Registration Documents to clients | 7 days from the date of upload of Unique Client Code to the Exchange by thetrading member |
| 6. | Issuance of contract notes | 24 hours of execution of trades |
| 7. | Collection of upfront margin from client | Before initiation of trade |
| 8. | Issuance of intimations regarding other margin due payments | At the end of the T day |
| 9. | Settlement of client funds | 30 days / 90 days for running account settlement (RAS) as per the preferenceof client. If consent not given for RAS - within 24 hours of pay-out |
| 10. | ‘Statement of Accounts’ for Funds, Securities and Commodities | Weekly basis (Within four tradingdaysof Securities and Commodities following week) |
| 11. | Issuance of retention statement of funds/commodities | 5 days from the date of settlement |
| 12. | Issuance of Annual Global Statement | 30 days from the end of the financial year |
| 13. | Investor grievances redressal | 30 days from the receipt of the complaint |
DOs and DON’Ts for Investors
| DOs | DON’Ts |
|---|---|
| Read all documents and conditions being agreed before signing the account opening form. | Do not deal with unregistered stockbroker. |
| Receive a copy of KYC, copy of account opening documents and Unique Client Code. | Do not forget to strike off blanks in your account opening and KYC form. |
| Read the product / operational framework / timelines related to various Trading and Clearing & Settlement processes. | Do not submit an incomplete account opening and KYC form. |
| Receive all information about brokerage, fees and other charges levied. | Do not forget to inform any change in information linked to trading account and obtain confirmation of updation in the system. |
| Register your mobile number and email ID in your trading, demat and bank accounts to get regular alerts on your transactions. | Do not transfer funds, for the purposes of trading to anyone other than a stock broker. No payment should be made in name of employee of stock broker. |
| If executed, receive a copy of Power of Attorney. However, Power of Attorney is not a mandatory requirement as per SEBI / Stock Exchanges. Before granting Power of Attorney, carefully examine the scope and implications of powers being granted. | Do not ignore any emails / SMSs received with regards to trades done, from the Stock Exchange and raise a concern, if discrepancy is observed. |
| Receive contract notes for trades executed, showing transaction price, brokerage, GST and STT etc. as applicable, separately, within 24 hours of execution of trades. | Do not opt for digital contracts, if not familiar with computers. |
| Receive funds and securities / commodities on time within 24 hours from pay-out. | Do not share trading password. |
| Verify details of trades, contract notes and statement of account and approach relevant authority for any discrepancies. Verify trade details on the Exchange websites from the trade verification facility provided by the Exchanges. | Do not fall prey to fixed / guaranteed returns schemes. |
| Receive statement of accounts periodically. If opted for running account settlement, account has to be settled by the stock broker as per the option given by the client (30 or 90days). | Do not fall prey to fraudsters sending emails and SMSs luring to trade in stocks / securities promising huge profits. |
| In case of any grievances, approach stock broker or Stock Exchange or SEBI for getting the same resolved within prescribed timelines. | Do not follow herd mentality for investments. Seek expert and professional advice for your investments. |
Grievance Redressal Mechanism
Level 1– Approach the Stock Broker at the designated Investor Grievance e-mail ID of the stock broker. The Stock Broker will strive to redress the grievance immediately, but not later than 30 days of the receipt of the grievance.
Level 2– Approach the Stock Exchange using the grievance mechanism mentioned at the website of the respective exchange.
Complaints Resolution Process at Stock Exchange explained graphically:
Timelines for complaint resolution process at Stock Exchanges against stock brokers
| S.No. | Type of Activity | Timelines for activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Receipt of Complaint | Day of complaint (C Day). |
| 2. | Additional information sought from the investor, if any, and provisionally forwarded to stock broker. | C + 7 Working days. |
| 3. | Registration of the complaint and forwarding to the stock broker. | C+8 Working Days i.e. T day. |
| 4. | Amicable Resolution | T+15 Working Days. |
| 5. | Refer to conciliation, in case of no amicable resolution. | T+16 Working Days. |
| 6. | Complete resolution process post GRC. | T + 30 Working Days. |
| 7. | In case where the conciliation Member requires additional information, GRC order shall be completed within. | T + 45 Working Days. |
| 8. | Implementation of conciliation Order. | On receipt of conciliation Order, if the order is in favour of the investor, debit the funds of the stock broker. Order for debit is issued immediately or as per the directions given in conciliation order. |
| 9. | In case the stock broker is aggrieved by the conciliation order, will provide intention to avail arbitration | Within 7 days from receipt of order |
| 10. | If intention from stock broker is received and the conciliation order amount is upto Rs.20 lakhs | Investor is eligible for interim relief from Investor Protection Fund (IPF).The interim relief will be 50% of the conciliation order amount or Rs.2 lakhs whichever is less. The same shall be provided after obtaining and Undertaking from the investor. |
| 11. | Stock Broker shall file for arbitration | Within 6 months from the date of conciliation recommendation |
| 12. | In case the stock broker does not file for arbitration within 6 months | The conciliation order amount shall be released to the investor after adjusting the amount released as interim relief, if any. |
Handling of Investor’s claims / complaints in case of default of a Trading Member / Clearing Member (TM/CM)
Default of TM/CM
Following steps are carried out by Stock Exchange for benefit of investor, in case stockbroker defaults:
- Circular is issued to inform about declaration of Stock Broker as Defaulter.
- Information of defaulter stock broker is disseminated on Stock Exchange website.
- Public Notice is issued informing declaration of a stock broker as defaulter and inviting claims within specified period
- Intimation to clients of defaulter stock brokers via emails and SMS for facilitating lodging of claims within the specified period.
Following information is available on Stock Exchange website for information of investors:
- Norms for eligibility of claims for compensation from IPF
- Claim form for lodging claim against defaulter stock broker.
- FAQ on processing of investors’ claims against Defaulter stock broker.
- Provision to check online status of client’s claim.
Level 3 – The complaint not redressed at Stock Broker / Stock Exchange level, may be lodged with SEBI on SCORES 2.0 (a web based centralized grievance redressal system of SEBI) link
Two Level Review for complaint/grievance against DP:
- First review done by Designated Body
- Second review done by SEBI
Investor Charter for depositories and depository participants (Annexure – A)
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.
Mission
- To hold securities of investors in dematerialized 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.
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 [https://www.cdslindia.com/DP/dplist.aspx].
Description of services provided by the Depository through Depository Participants (DPs) to investors
Basic Services
| S.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 / Destatementization | 5 days |
| 4. | Re-conversion / Restatementisation of Mutual fund units | 7 days |
| 5. | Transmission of securities | 7 days |
| 6. | Registering pledge request | 15 days |
| 7. | Closure of demat account | 30 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’ |
Depositories provide special services like pledge, hypothecation, internet-based services etc. in addition to their core services and these include
| S.No. | Type of Activity /Service | Brief about the Activity / Service |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Value Added Services |
Depositories also provide value added services such as
|
| 2. | Consolidated Account statement(CAS) | CAS is issued 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 provided services by the depositories | Depositories offer below technology solutions and e-facilities to their demat account holders through DPs: |
Details of Grievance Redressal Mechanism
The Process of investor grievance redressal
| 1. | Investor Complaint/ Grievances |
Investor can lodge complaint/ grievance against the Depository/DP in the following ways:
The complaints/ grievances lodged directly with the Depository shall be resolved within 21 days. |
| 2. | Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform for online Conciliation and Arbitration | If the Investor is not satisfied with the resolution provided by DP or other Market Participants, then the Investor has the option to file the complaint/grievance on SMARTODR platform for its resolution through by online conciliation or arbitration. link |
| 3. | Steps to be followed in ODR for Review, Conciliation and Arbitration | - Investor to approach Market Participant for redressal of complaint - If investor is not satisfied with response of Market Participant, he/she can escalate the complaint on SEBI SCORES portal. - Alternatively, the investor may also file a complaint on SMARTODR portal for its resolution through online conciliation and arbitration. - Upon receipt of complaint on SMARTODR portal, the relevant MII will review the matter and endeavour to resolve the matter between the Market Participant and investor within 21 days. - If the matter could not be amicably resolved, then the Investor may request the MII to refer the matter case for conciliation. - During the conciliation process, the conciliator will endeavor for amicable settlement of the dispute within 21 days, which may be extended with 10 days by the conciliator. - If the conciliation is unsuccessful, then the investor may request to refer the matter for arbitration. - The arbitration process to be concluded by arbitrator(s) within 30 days, which is extendable by 30 days. |
Guidance pertaining to special circumstances related to market activities: Termination of the Depository Participant
| S.No. | Type of special circumstances | Timelines for the Activity / Service |
|---|---|---|
| 1. |
|
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 by way of letter/email. |
Dos and Don’ts for Investors
For Do’s and Don’ts please refer to the link.
Rights of investors
For rights, please refer to the link.
Responsibilities of Investors
For responsibilities, please refer to the link.
Code of Conduct for Participants
For responsibilities, please refer to the link.