CIRCULAR
SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD1/P/CIR/2025/22 February 21, 2025
To,
All recognized Stock Exchanges
Stock Brokers through Recognized Stock Exchanges
Madam / Sir,
Sub: Investor Charter for Stock Brokers
1. SEBI, vide Circular no. SEBI/HO/MIRSD/DOP/P/CIR/2021/676 dated December
02, 2021 (hereinafter mentioned as ‘Circular’) and Clause 75 of Master Circular for
Stock Brokers dated August 09, 2024 (hereinafter mentioned as ‘Master Circular’),
inter alia, issued Investor charter for stock brokers.
2. In a move to enhance financial consumer protection alongside enhanced financial
inclusion and financial literacy and in view of the recent developments in the
securities market including introduction of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)
platform and SCORES 2.0, it has been decided to modify the investor charter for
stock brokers.
3. In view of the above and based on consultation with Brokers’ Industry Standards
Forum (ISF), updated investor charter for stock brokers is placed at Annexure A.
4. In this regard, Stock Exchanges are directed to advise Stock Brokers to bring the
Investor Charter for Stock Brokers to the notice of their clients (existing as well as
new clients) through disclosing the Investor Charter on their respective websites,
making them available at prominent places in the office, provide a copy of Investor
Charter as a part of account opening kit to the clients, through e-mails/ letters etc.
5. Additionally, in order to ensure transparency in the Investor Grievance Redressal
Mechanism, all the Stock Brokers shall continue to disclose on their respective
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websites, the data on complaints received against them or against issues dealt by
them and redressal thereof, latest by 7th of succeeding month, as per the format
enclosed at Annexure ‘B’ to this circular.
6. The provisions of this circular shall come into force with immediate effect.
7. With the issuance of this circular, SEBI, Circular.
SEBI/HO/MIRSD/DOP/P/CIR/2021/676 dated December 02, 2021 stands
rescinded and Clause 75 of Master Circular for Stock Brokers dated August 09,
2024 stands amended as per this circular.
8. Stock Exchanges are hereby directed to bring the provisions of this circular to the
notice of the stock brokers.
9. This circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under Section 11(1) of
Chapter IV of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 to protect the
interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to
regulate the securities markets and shall come into effect from the date of this
circular.
10. This circular is available on SEBI website at www.sebi.gov.in under the category:
‘Legal → Circulars
Yours faithfully,
Sudeep Mishra
General Manager
Tel. No.: 022-26449365
E-mail: sudeepm@sebi.gov.in
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Annexure-A
Investor Charter – Stock Brokers
1. VISION
To follow highest standards of ethics and compliances while facilitating the trading
by clients in securities in a fair and transparent manner, so as to contribute in
creation of wealth for investors.
2. MISSION
i) To provide high quality and dependable service through innovation, capacity
enhancement and use of technology.
ii) To establish and maintain a relationship of trust and ethics with the investors.
iii) To observe highest standard of compliances and transparency.
iv) To always keep ‘protection of investors’ interest’ as goal while providing
service.
v) To ensure confidentiality of information shared by investors unless such
information is required to be provided in furtherance of discharging legal
obligations or investors have provided specific consent to share such
information.
3. Services provided to Investors by stockbrokers include
I. Execution of trades on behalf of investors.
II. Issuance of Contract Notes.
III. Issuance of intimations regarding margin due payments.
IV. Facilitate execution of early pay-in obligation instructions.
V. Periodic Settlement of client’s funds.
VI. Issuance of retention statement of funds at the time of settlement.
VII. Risk management systems to mitigate operational and market risk.
VIII. Facilitate client profile changes in the system as instructed by the client.
IX. Information sharing with the client w.r.t. relevant Market Infrastructure
Institutions (MII) circulars.
X. Provide a copy of Rights & Obligations document to the client.
XI. Communicating Most Important terms and Conditions (MITC) to the client.
XII. Redressal of Investor’s grievances.
4. Rights of Investors
I. Ask for and receive information from a firm about the work history and
background of the person handling your account, as well as information about
the firm itself (including website providing mandatory information).
II. Receive complete information about the risks, obligations, and costs of any
investment before investing.
III. Receive a copy of all completed account forms and rights & obligation
document.
IV. Receive a copy of ‘Most Important Terms & Conditions’ (MITC).
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V. Receive account statements that are accurate and understandable.
VI. Understand the terms and conditions of transactions you undertake.
VII. Access your funds in a prescribed manner and receive information about any
restrictions or limitations on access.
VIII. Receive complete information about maintenance or service charges,
transaction or redemption fees, and penalties in form of tariff sheet.
IX. Discuss your grievances with compliance officer / compliance team /
dedicated grievance redressal team of the firm and receive prompt attention
to and fair consideration of your concerns.
X. Close your zero balance accounts online with minimal documentation
XI. Get the copies of all policies (including Most Important Terms and Conditions)
of the broker related to dealings of your account
XII. Not be discriminated against in terms of services offered to equivalent clients
XIII. Get only those advertisement materials from the broker which adhere to Code
of Advertisement norms in place
XIV. In case of broker defaults, be compensated from the Exchange Investor
Protection Fund as per the norms in place
XV. Trade in derivatives after submission of relevant financial documents to the
broker subject to brokers’ adequate due diligence.
XVI. Get warnings on the trading systems while placing orders in securities where
surveillance measures are in place
XVII. Get access to products and services in a suitable manner even if differently
abled
XVIII. Get access to educational materials of the MIIs and brokers
XIX. Get access to all the exchanges of a particular segment you wish to deal with
unless opted out specifically as per Broker norms
XX. Deal with one or more stockbrokers of your choice without any compulsion of
minimum business
XXI. Have access to the escalation matrix for communication with the broker
XXII. Not be bound by any clause prescribed by the Brokers which are
contravening the Regulatory provisions.
5. Various activities of Stock Brokers with timelines
S.No. Activities Expected Timelines
1. KYC entered into KRA System 3 working days of account opening
and CKYCR
2. Client Onboarding Immediate, but not later than one
week
3. Order execution Immediate on receipt of order, but not
later than the same day
4. Allocation of Unique Client Code Before trading
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5. Copy of duly completed Client 7 days from the date of upload of
Registration Documents to clients Unique Client Code to the Exchange
by the trading member
6. Issuance of contract notes 24 hours of execution of trades
7. Collection of upfront margin from Before initiation of trade
client
8. Issuance of intimations regarding At the end of the T day
other margin due payments
9. Settlement of client funds First Friday/Saturday of the month /
quarter as per Exchange pre-
announced schedule
10. ‘Statement of Accounts’ for Funds, Monthly basis
Securities and Commodities
11. Issuance of retention statement of 5 days from the date of settlement
funds/commodities
12. Issuance of Annual Global 30 days from the end of the financial
Statement year
13. Investor grievances redressal 21 calendar days from the receipt of
the complaint
6. DOs and DON’Ts for Investors
DOs DON’Ts
1. Read all documents and conditions 1. Do not deal with unregistered stock
being agreed before signing the broker.
account opening form. 2. Do not forget to strike off blanks in
2. Receive a copy of KYC, copy of your account opening and KYC.
account opening documents and 3. Do not submit an incomplete
Unique Client Code. account opening and KYC form.
3. Read the product / operational 4. Do not forget to inform any change
framework / timelines related to in information linked to trading
various Trading and Clearing & account and obtain confirmation of
Settlement processes. updation in the system.
4. Receive all information about
5. Do not transfer funds, for the
brokerage, fees and other charges
purposes of trading to anyone
levied.
other than a stock broker. No
5. Register your mobile number and
payment should be made in name
email ID in your trading, demat and
of employee of stock broker.
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bank accounts to get regular alerts on 6. Do not ignore any emails / SMSs
your transactions. received with regards to trades
6. If executed, receive a copy of Demat done, from the Stock Exchange
Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI) and raise a concern, if discrepancy
However, DDPI is not a mandatory is observed.
requirement as per SEBI / Stock 7. Do not opt for digital contracts, if
Exchanges. Before granting DDPI, not familiar with computers.
carefully examine the scope and
8. Do not share trading password.
implications of powers being granted.
9. Do not fall prey to fixed /
7. Receive contract notes for trades
guaranteed returns schemes.
executed, showing transaction price,
10. Do not fall prey to fraudsters
brokerage, GST and STT/CTT etc. as
sending emails and SMSs luring to
applicable, separately, within 24
trade in stocks / securities
hours of execution of trades.
promising huge profits.
8. Receive funds and securities/
11. Do not follow herd mentality for
commodities on time, as prescribed
investments. Seek expert and
by SEBI or exchange from time to
professional advice for your
time.
investments
9. Verify details of trades, contract notes
and statement of account and
approach relevant authority for any
discrepancies. Verify trade details on
the Exchange websites from the trade
verification facility provided by the
Exchanges.
10. Receive statement of accounts
periodically. If opted for running
account settlement, account has to be
settled by the stock broker as per the
option given by the client (Monthly or
Quarterly).
11. In case of any grievances, approach
stock broker or Stock Exchange or
SEBI for getting the same resolved
within prescribed timelines.
12. Retain documents for trading activity
as it helps in resolving disputes, if
they arise.
Additionally, Investors may refer to Dos and Don’ts issued by MIIs on their
respective websites from time to time.
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7. Grievance Redressal Mechanism
The process of investor grievance redressal is as follows:
1. Investor Investor can lodge complaint/grievance against
complaint/Grievances stock broker in the following ways:
Mode of filing the complaint with stock broker
Investor can approach the Stock Broker at the
designated Investor Grievance e-mail ID of the
stock broker. The Stock Broker will strive to redress
the grievance immediately, but not later than 21
days of the receipt of the grievance
Mode of filing the complaint with stock exchanges
i. SCORES 2.0 (a web based centralized
grievance redressal system of SEBI)
(https://scores.sebi.gov.in)
Two level review for complaint/grievance
against stock broker:
 First review done by Designated
body/Exchange
 Second review done by SEBI
ii. Emails to designated email IDs of Exchange
2. Online Dispute If the Investor is not satisfied with the resolution
Resolution (ODR) provided by the Market Participants, then the
platform for online Investor has the option to file the complaint/
Conciliation and grievance on SMARTODR platform for its resolution
Arbitration through online conciliation or arbitration.
3. Steps to be followed in 1. Investor to approach Market Participant for
ODR for Review, redressal of complaint
Conciliation and
Arbitration 2. If investor is not satisfied with response of
Market Participant, he/she has either of the
following 2 options:
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i. May escalate the complaint on SEBI
SCORES portal.
ii. May also file a complaint on SMARTODR
portal for its resolution through online
conciliation and arbitration.
3. Upon receipt of complaint on SMARTODR
portal, the relevant MII will review the matter and
endeavor to resolve the matter between the
Market Participant and investor within 21 days.
4. If the matter could not be amicably resolved,
then the matter shall be referred for conciliation.
5. During the conciliation process, the conciliator
will endeavor for amicable settlement of the
dispute within 21 days, which may be extended
with 10 days by the conciliator with consent of
the parties to dispute.
6. If the conciliation is unsuccessful, then the
investor may request to refer the matter for
arbitration.
7. The arbitration process to be concluded by
arbitrator(s) within 30 days, which is extendable
by 30 days with consent of the parties to dispute.
8. Handling of Investor’s claims / complaints in case of default of a Trading
Member / Clearing Member (TM/CM)
Default of TM/CM
Following steps are carried out by Stock Exchange for benefit of investor, in case
stock broker defaults:
• Circular is issued to inform about declaration of Stock Broker as Defaulter.
• Information of defaulter stock broker is disseminated on Stock Exchange
website.
• Public Notice is issued informing declaration of a stock broker as defaulter
and inviting claims within specified period.
• Intimation to clients of defaulter stock brokers via emails and SMS for
facilitating lodging of claims within the specified period.
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Following information is available on Stock Exchange website for information of
investors:
• Norms for eligibility of claims for compensation from IPF.
• Claim form for lodging claim against defaulter stock broker.
• FAQ on processing of investors’ claims against Defaulter stock broker.
• Provision to check online status of client’s claim.
• Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for handling of Claims of Investors in
the Cases of Default by Brokers
• Claim processing policy against Defaulter/Expelled members
• List of Defaulter/Expelled members and public notice issued
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Annexure – B
Format for Investor Complaints Data to be displayed by Stock Brokers on their
respective websites
Data for every month ending
S Receive Carried Receive Total Resolve Pending at the Average
N d from forwar d Pendin d* end of the Resoluti
d from during g month** on time^
previou the (in days)
month
s
month
Pendin Pendin
g g for
f more
or than 3
month
less
s
than 3
month
s
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Directly
from
Investors
2 SEBI
(SCORE
S 2.0)
3 Stock
Exchang
es
4 Other
Sources
(if any)
5 Grand
Total
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Trend of monthly disposal of complaints
SN Month Carried forward Received Resolved* Pending**
from previous
month
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 April -YYYY
2 May-YYYY
3 June-YYYY
4 July-YYYY
….
…..
March-YYYY
Grand Total
*Should include complaints of previous months resolved in the current month, if any.
**Should include total complaints pending as on the last day of the month, if any.
^Average resolution time is the sum total of time taken to resolve each complaint in the
current month divided by total number of complaints resolved in the current month.
Trend of annual disposal of complaints
SN Year Carried Received Received Pending at the
forward from during the during the end of the
previous year year year year
1 2021-22
2 2022-23
3 2023-24
4 2024-25
Grand Total
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