SEBI's dues recovery falls sharply to Rs 6,031 crore in FY23; Rs 1.02 lakh crore pending

Derivatives contracts on stocks can be traded on recognized stock exchanges only if the underlying stocks satisfy certain objective criteria

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in its annual report, said its recovery from erring market participants for the year stood at Rs 6,031 crore, down 61.72 percent year on year from Rs 15,756 crore.

The market regulator, in its annual report uploaded on August 7, said a total of Rs 1.02 lakh crore of penalties is to be recovered. Out of the total, Rs 63,206 crore (which is 61.7 percent of the total amount due) pertains to CIS/DPI (Collective Investment Scheme/ Deemed Public Issue) matters of PACL Ltd and Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd, respectively.

A total amount of Rs 70,482.62 crore, which is 68.7 percent of the total amount due, is subject to parallel proceedings before various courts and court-appointed committees. In these cases, SEBI’s recovery proceedings are subject to directions or approvals of respective court or committee, it said.

SEBI's Default to Recover (DTR) has shot up to Rs 73,287 crore in FY23 from Rs 67,228 crore in the last fiscal. DTR dues are the dues which could not be recovered even after exhausting all the modes of recovery. They include cases where accused persons or entities have died, have no attachable properties, are untraceable, and so on.

Segregating such dues as DTR is just an administrative act and Recovery Officers can still recover the amount if any of the parameters change.

Acton during FY23

SEBI said during 2022-23, it initiated adjudication proceedings in 6,850 cases, while it disposed of 11,824 cases (which include the cases with respect to the trading of illiquid stock options at BSE). At the end of March 31, 2023, as many as 1,950 cases were pending.