Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed simple and standardised process for issuance of duplicate shares as part of ease of investment process for investors. In a consultation paper issued on Tuesday, SEBI stated, “It has been gathered that due to non-standardisation of documents and different approach followed by RTAs/listed companies, investors feel the pain of going for varied documentation for various listed companies."
Regulator has also recommended raising the threshold for simplified documentation from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Additionally, it has been proposed to eliminate the need for FIRs and newspaper advertisements for lower-value cases. SEBI justified the enhancement in the limit. The SEBI paper stated, “Indian securities market has expanded significantly in terms of market capitalisation, investor participation and average portfolio size. As a result, the monetary value of individual security holdings has increased materially. In this context, retaining the existing limit no longer reflects current market realities and imposes avoidable procedural burden on investors”.
To reduce paperwork and costs, SEBI has suggested replacing the separate affidavit and indemnity bond with a single affidavit-cum-indemnity form, with stamp duty based on the investor’s state of residence. The SEBI paper stated, “Executing two different forms and paying separate stamp duty results in duplication of effort and financial inconvenience for the investors. In many cases, the value of securities may be less than the value of stamp duty. In such cases, payment of stamp duty on two different instruments may not be logical”.
The paper also proposes that listed companies should issue newspaper advertisements on behalf of investors, formalising existing market practice. SEBI said the changes aim to streamline processes, reduce investor inconvenience and promote greater dematerialisation, as duplicate certificates would only be issued in demat form.
SEBI paper said the suggested measures aim at ease of investments for investors and help restitute investor rights in securities that may have been held in physical form. As duplicates securities issued would be necessarily in dematerialised mode, this will result in increased dematerialisation. Public comments have been invited until December 16, 2025.
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