The Central Depository Services (CDSL) and National Securities Depository (NSDL) on July 7 launched a new feature in the investor app that integrates recommendations from proxy advisory firms to assist shareholders in voting on corporate resolutions, a step seen as empowering retail investor and to hold company boards to greater accountability.
The feature was launched at an event hosted at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), with Sebi Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey in attendance.
“Voting on shareholder resolutions is one of the most powerful tools available to investors to hold company management accountable,” Pandey said during his address. “Proxy advisory firms play an important role. They facilitate investors to make informed decisions," he added.
The new integration aims to enhance participation in e-voting by providing investors with access to recommendations from registered proxy advisors.
“We are taking a new initiative to provide proxy advisory recommendations to each and every individual in the unified investor app of depositories,” Pandey said, adding, “They have full control to modify any recommendation and resolution before submitting it to the board.”
The feature, integrated into the CDSL MyEasi and NSDL e-voting platforms, allows users to view proxy advisor recommendations on company resolutions and choose to adopt, reject, or modify them before submitting their vote. Recommendations from Sebi-registered advisors like Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES), InGovern Research, and IiAS will now be made available within the voting interface itself.
Facilitated on the investor app of CDSL and NSDL, the platform is designed to raise awareness and ease compliance burdens. Service providers like KFin Technologies, BigShare Services, and others have collaborated on enabling this functionality. The new microsite will offer resources in 11 Indian languages, a move aimed at deepening capital market access across India.
The initiative comes amid an unprecedented shift in India’s investor demographics. According to data shared at the event:
70% of new demat accounts opened in the last 7 years belong to individuals aged 18–25
Women investors have grown by 39% since 2019
66% of these women investors are between 26–30 years
Stakeholders reiterated the collective vision behind the launch was to build an investing culture anchored in awareness, responsibility, and access. "Let’s start a new world where every investor, institutional or retail, is truly a part of and participates actively in the securities market," said Tuhin Kanta Pandey.
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