 "Sebi 'hardly' received complaints on dividends non-payment: Govt")
Market watchdog Sebi has 'hardly' received any complaint regarding non-payment of dividends by companies, Parliament was informed on Friday.
However, while declaration of dividend is not mandatory, a new norm has been introduced in the Sebi listing regulations requiring top 500 listed firms to formulate and disclose their dividend distribution policies in their annual reports and on their websites, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
The move was aimed at helping investors take well-informed investment decisions.
"The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has informed that it has hardly received any complaint regarding non-payment of dividends by companies," Meghwal said.
Under the policy, companies list out the circumstances under which the shareholders may or may not expect dividends.
Besides, the policy needs to spell out financial parameters as also various internal and external factors to be considered for declaring dividends. The companies need to inform the shareholders how they aim to utilise extra profits and the parameters to be adopted with regard to various classes of shares.
Also Read
In a separate reply, the minister said Sebi has passed 257 prohibitive orders such as debarment from accessing the securities markets or dealing in securities in the past fiscal.
The number of such orders stood at 131 and 262 during 2014-15 and 2013-14, respectively.