The Hindu Business Line : `Woes of small investors need more attention'

WHILE a lot is being said and done to bring small investors to the equity market, the problems of existing small investors still remain unattended, according to the President of Madurai Investors Association, Mr G. Balakrishnan.

Mr Balakrishnan, while welcoming the announcement by the Securities and Exchange Board of India that no fees will be charged for opening demat accounts from February 1, told Business Line that investors have been facing problems that need to be looked into.

For one, he said, the CDSL (BSE) and NSDL (NSE) are the only two institutions in the country to facilitate dematerialisation of shares. For instance, if a small investor, having a demat account only with NSDL (NSE), has a share that can only be dematerialised in CDSL (BSE), it is not accepted for sale.

The investor thus is unable to effect the sale and is forced to wait until the scrip is listed in the other exchange. It is necessary to make exchanges accept scrips from one another, said Mr Balakrishnan.

The sale of shares in the physical form is another problem. Sometimes, CDSL and NSDL mark the shares that are presented for demat, with a `surrender for dematerialisation' seal. They are then sent to the companies or the Registrar and Transfer Agent, where they are rejected since they have not been added to demat scrips list.

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