Publishing of Investor Charter and Disclosure of Complaints by Custodians and DDPs on their websites

CIRCULAR
SEBI/HO/FPIC/P/CIR/2021/691 December 17, 2021 To, All Custodians All Designated Depository Participants (DDPs) Dear Sir / Madam, Subject: Publishing of Investor Charter and Disclosure of Complaints by Custodians and DDPs on their websites

1. In order to facilitate awareness among investors about the details of activities carried
   and services provided by Custodians and Designated Depository Participants (DDPs), SEBI after due consultation has developed Investor Charters for Custodians and DDPs which inter-alia deals with services provided to investors with timelines and general guidance for Investors.

2. In this regard, all the registered Custodians and DDPs shall take necessary steps to
   bring the Investor Charter, as provided in “Annexure-A” to this circular, to the notice of their clients and ensure that the Investor Charter is prominently displayed on their respective website for ease of accessibility of investors.

3. Additionally, in order to bring about transparency in the Investor Grievance Redressal
   Mechanism, it has been decided that all Custodians and DDPs shall disclose on their respective websites, the monthly data on complaints received and redressal thereof, latest by 7 th of succeeding month, as per the format provided in “Annexure- B” to this circular.

4. The provisions of this circular shall come into effect from January 01, 2022.

5. The Circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 11(1) of the
   Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, to protect the interest of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.

6. This Circular is available at www.sebi.gov.in under the link “LegalCirculars”.
   Yours faithfully,
   Chandrakanta Mitra
   Deputy General Manager
   Email-id: cmitra@sebi.gov.in

ANNEXURE- A
INVESTOR CHARTER - CUSTODIAN
VISION STATEMENT:
“To make India an investor friendly country through efficient Regulations”. MISSION STATEMENT:
“To serve all investors by promoting the highest standards of ethics, professional excellence and investor protection”. TIMELINES PERTAINING TO VARIOUS SERVICES PROVIDED BY CUSTODIAN S.No. Type of Service Expected Timelines* 1 Account Opening (a) Opening Custody Accounts Within 15 working days 2 Trade Processing (a) Pre-matching, Confirmations, Margin / Funding verification Within the Market timelines (b) Settlements within 24 hours of receipt of Securities/ Cash 3 Safekeeping of Assets / Reports to Client within 24 hours of receipt of Securities 4 Breach of Foreign Ownership Limit within 24 hours 5 Asset Servicing (a) Corporate action notification Within 48 hours (b) Processing of client's instructions for the event within Market timelines (c) Settlements Within 48 hours (d) Proxy Voting / E-Voting / Postal Ballot within Market timelines 6 Monthly Portfolio Report to client with list of Assets Within 7 working days 7 Client Queries Acknowledgment or Response within 48 hours 8 Grievance Redressal Acknowledgment within 48 hours and redress within 30 days

• above timelines will apply to cases where documents/information is complete in all respects

General Guidance for Investors:
S.No. Guidance
1 Provide Complete, Accurate and Latest information for Account Opening. 2 Investors are solely responsible for any investment activity undertaken on the market. 3 Ensure all investments and investment related activities are in compliance with applicable rules and regulations 4 Investors have Right of Fair and Equitable Treatment and Confidentiality of Information as per SEBI (Custodian) Regulations, 1996 5 Investors have Right to expect Redressal of Grievances in a timebound manner and ensure to collect contact details of key personnel for Escalation and Resolution of grievances 6 Adhere to all the rules, regulations, investment limits / conditions prescribed by the Regulators and Government of India. Grievance Redressal Mechanism  Approach the Custodian at the designated Investor Grievance e-mail ID with complete details of complaints for redressal of investor grievances in a time bound manner.  The complaint not redressed at Custodian level, may be lodged with SEBI on SCORES (a web based centralized investor grievance redressal mechanism at SEBI) @ https://www.scores.gov.in/scores/Welcome.html

INVESTOR CHARTER - DESIGNATED DEPOSITORY PARTICIPANTS VISION STATEMENT:
“To make India an investor friendly country through efficient Regulations”. MISSION STATEMENT:
“To serve all investors by promoting the highest standards of ethics, professional excellence and investor protection”. TIMELINES PERTAINING TO VARIOUS SERVICES PROVIDED BY DDP S.no. Type of Service Expected Timelines * 1 FPI registration (a) Fresh Registration Within 30 days (b) Renewal of FPI Registration Within 15 days (c) Surrender of FPI Registration Within 10 working days of receipt of NOC from SEBI 2 Change in DDP cum Custodian Within 30 days of receipt of approval from incoming DDP 3 Off-Market (Free of Payment) transfers permitted as per SEBI Operational Guidelines for FPIs, DDPs and EFIs Within 15 days 4 KYC Review / Update Jurisdiction FPI Category – I FPI Category – II High Risk Registered under Reg. 5(a)(i) – During continuance of registration i.e. every 3 years. Others - Annually Annually Non-High Risk During continuance of registration i.e. every 3 years. Regulated entities during continuance of registration i.e. every 3 years. Others-Annually.

• above timelines will apply to cases where application is complete in all respects

General Guidance for Investors:
S.No. Guidance
1 Provide Complete, Accurate and Latest information for FPI registration. 2 Adhere to all the rules, regulations, investment limits / conditions prescribed by the Regulators and Government of India. 3 Sell or write-off securities holdings prior to expiry of the FPI registration in case the FPI wish to surrender its registration. 4 Inform Forthwith any changes in information or particulars pertaining the FPI registration. 5 Investors have Right of Fair and Equitable Treatment and Confidentiality of Information as per SEBI (FPI) Regulations, 2019 and SEBI Operational Guidelines for FPIs, DDPs and EFIs . 6 Investors have Right to expect Redressal of Grievances in a timebound manner and ensure to collect contact details of key personnel for Escalation and Resolution of grievances Grievance Redressal Mechanism  Approach the DDP at the designated Investor Grievance e-mail ID with complete details of complaints for redressal of investor grievances in a time bound manner.  The complaint not redressed at DDP level, may be lodged with SEBI on SCORES (a web based centralized investor grievance redressal mechanism at SEBI) @ https://www.scores.gov.in/scores/Welcome.html

ANNEXURE- B
Format of Complaints against Custodians and DDPs to be displayed on their websites A. Data for the Month ending - S.No Received from Pending at the end of the last month Received during the month Resolved during the month* Total Pending at the end of month

Complaints
Pending > 1 month
Average
Resolution time^
(in days)
1 Directly from
Investors
2 SEBI
(SCORES)
3 Stock
Exchanges
(if relevant)
4 Other
Sources
(if any)
5 Grand
Total
B. Trend of Monthly disposal of complaints for the Financial Year￾SN Month Carried forward from previous month Received during the month Resolved during the month * Pending at the end of the month 1 April 2021 2 May 2021 …… 12 March 2022 Grand Total

• Inclusive of complaints of previous months resolved in the current month.
  Inclusive of complaints pending as on the last day of the month. ^ Average Resolution time is the sum total of time taken to resolve each complaint in days, in the current month divided by total number of complaints resolved in the current month.
  C. Trend of Annual (FY) disposal of complaints (For 3 years on rolling basis)-
  SNo Year Carried forward from previous year
  Received during the year
  Resolved during the year
  Pending at the end of the year
  1 2019-20
  2 2020-21
  3 2021-22
  Grand Total