The Hindu Business Line : Operators bogged down by number of applicants for unique ID number

SO, you know that for transactions above Rs 1 lakh, directly in the stock market or through a mutual fund, you would need to quote your unique identification number from April 1.

You decide to start early and finish the process and call one of the five service providers for an appointment to get yourself fingerprinted and photographed. The earliest they can accommodate you? April 13! .

Bogged down by limited infrastructure, constraints of the technology they use and the sheer volume of identification numbers that have to be generated, service providers to the Securities and Exchange Board of India's MAPIN exercise are groaning under the weight of applications to be cleared.

Geojit Securities, Karvy Consultants, Integrated Enterprises, CMC Ltd and Alankit Assignments are the primary designated service providers for MAPIN.

While two of these providers ask you not to turn up before April 13, the others suggest that you fill up the application form, drop it in their office and wait for the phone to ring.

"My client who travels abroad extensively is visiting in February. When I asked for an appointment I was given one for April 18. Even if he reschedules his travel and work plans in order to be ready when the call comes, this would still mean that he may not be able to transact for almost three weeks," complains a Mumbai-based financial planner.

The MAPIN service providers, together, cover 21 cities. The NSE terminals are available at 356 cities and towns. This implies that residents of 335 cities would have to visit any of the 21 cities to comply with the exercise. NSDL conducts camps in some of the locations where the service providers do not cover. So far, only 85 such camps have taken place.

The infrastructure available is not enough even in cities covered by the service providers. "Even if everyone who needs to get an identification number applies for one today, they will not be able to meet the deadline," said the CEO of an asset management company.

Added to this, AMCs have instructed their distributors and financial planners to advise all their clients to get an identification number, irrespective of the size of their transactions. This has added to the pressure on a system that is already bursting at the seams.

With increasing number of stock market and mutual fund investors struggling to comply with the regulation before the deadline, efforts are being made to convince the regulator about extending the deadline. The other suggestion being made is to hike the transaction limit to Rs 10 lakh, according to market sources.

SEBI is yet to announce any such changes. Until then, investors can only wait for the phone to ring or rethink any planned investments after April 2005.

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