Exchanges are investing heavily in technology with a focus on providing investors fast and accurate information. Unfortunately for them, the investor community is not too happy about it.

Last year, both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange took measures to improve their Web sites.

In June 2011, the NSE launched a new version of its Web site. Most people Business Line spoke to were of the opinion that the older version was far better and more user-friendly than the current one. They said they immediately click on the “Go to previous version” button as soon as the page opens. “The fact that the button still exists even a year after its launch means the older version is still more popular than the new one,” said a broker with an Indian broking firm.

“Conceptually, what we have tried to do is make sure all the important information is on the home page or is, at most, two clicks away. We had spoken to many users before launching the new Web site and the site has been designed keeping all those issues in mind,” said an NSE official.

Navigation not easy

BSE, for its part, has increased the speed of its Web site by “almost 100 per cent” according to some BSE officials. Yet, finding information continues to be tough, say users.

That exchange Web sites all over the world have cluttered home pages and are difficult to navigate is a fact widely accepted by market players. They say this is because of the sheer volume of data generated by exchanges every day. “The exchange generates and updates data on a minute-by-minute basis. This often leads to problems in accessing the servers. But we are aware of these problems and are constantly working to address them,” said a BSE official.

The colourful clutter on the home page of these sites makes for a rather irritating user interface, say users. “Time is of essence when it comes to market information. Often when a crucial piece of information is required, the Web site refuses to throw up information, perhaps because of too much traffic or load. There is a lot of unwanted information on these sites,” says Mr Vivek Mahajan, Head of Research, Aditya Birla Money.

Another grievance that investors had was that the scanned copies of corporate announcements uploaded on the Web site are of poor quality and smudged around the numbers.

Mr Jagannadham Thunuguntla, Strategist & Head of Research, SMC Global Securities, says: “According to corporate governance norms, companies are required to provide information to investors on a periodical basis.

They follow the letter of the provision, not the spirit.”

Large volume of data

Clarifying their stand, an exchange official said: “The company announcements need to have the stamp along with the signature of the company Chairman, which is why these scanned copies have to be uploaded. We expect that the implementation of XBRL will change the way companies disseminate information.” XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a language used for electronic communication of business and financial data.

Some market players, however, feel the criticism about the exchanges' Web sites is a bit too harsh. Exchanges have to disseminate all the data generated all the time and an operation of that magnitude comes with its own problems.

Says the head of research of a firm: “Exchanges are doing what they can. As our markets mature, exchanges and their information-disseminating mechanism will catch up too.”

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