Sebi abolishes demat charges from Feb 1

In its bid to woo more investors to the capital market, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today said that no charges should be levied for opening a demat account, except statutory charges, with effect from February 1.

"There would be no charge for credit of securities into investors' demat account and no custody charge would be levied on any investor who would be opening a demat account on or after February 1," Sebi said in a notification to the stock exchanges.

Sebi said that custody charges would not be levied on any investor with effect from April 1. However, the depositories may levy and collect the charges towards custody from the issuers on a per folio basis at the end of the financial year.

The issuer has to pay annual custodial charge to respective depositories at the rate of Rs 4,000 for the nominal value admitted up to Rs 5 crore and Rs 10,000 for admitted value between the range of Rs 5-10 crore, Sebi said.

Sebi has advised all stock exchanges to implement the changes with immediate effect by making necessary amendments to the bye-laws and listing agreement.