The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has collected around Rs 190 crore since the consent order mechanism was introduced for speedy disposal of cases and clearing the backlog.
Statistics available on the Sebi website show the regulator had collected Rs 188.59 crore till March 31. The amount received through the consent mechanism comprises Rs 28.97 crore towards disgorgement, Rs 158.53 crore towards settlement charges and Rs 1.09 crore towards administrative and legal charges.
According to Sebi, it allowed 1,012 applications to settle several types of enforcement actions, including 74 applications where consent orders were passed by the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) and the Supreme Court. Sebi, however, rejected 743 applications and declined to pass consent orders. The amount received towards settlement charges has been remitted to the Consolidated Fund of India, while the disgorgement amount was retained in a separate account. This fund will be used for paying unsuccessful investors when there are IPO irregularities, as recommended by the Justice Wadhwa committee.
Consent order is an order settling administrative or civil proceedings between the regulator and violators of securities laws. It also reduce regulatory costs and save time and effort in pursuing enforcement actions.
In January, Sebi had imposed one of the highest-ever consent charge to the top brass of Reliance Infrastructure (R-Infra) and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) directing them to pay Rs 50 crore as settlement charges.
