Sebi to the Rescue

This article was originally published in Postnoon on November 2, 2012

http://postnoon.com/2012/11/02/sebi-to-the-rescue/85039

Srikanth was clearly in a bad mood, when I met him outside my office. He was pacing up and down the corridor with a scowl and fists clenched. On seeing me, he smiled faintly. I led him into my office and asked, “what happened? Did you lose a lot of money in the stock market?”, for Srikanth was an active investor!

Srikanth: Yes I did. But I would not feel so bad if I had made a wrong call and invested in the wrong stock. I am feeling bad and I am upset because I lost money due to my broker’s mistake.

Nicky: Really? How? What happened?

Srikanth: I had placed a sell order for my holdings in a company, through my broker. But the shares were not sold on the same day. In fact they were sold two days later. In those two days, the stock price went down by about 6% and I ended up losing close to Rs20,000/-.

Nicky: Did you ask the broker for a clarification?

Srikanth (annoyed at the question): Of course I did. They said that there were some technical issues.

Nicky: Do you have a record or any documentation relating to when you placed the order?

Srikanth: You are not really helping me by asking these obvious questions. But, to answer you, of course I do. The records will be available in the ‘order history’ of my account.

Nicky: I am asking you these questions because I have a solution for you. Why don’t you complain to the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI)? SEBI has a cell dedicated for Investor Assistance and Education (OIAE), which also handles investor grievances. But before you go to them, you must file a complaint with the stock exchange against the broker. If the exchange’s response is not satisfactory to you, then you can go to SEBI.

Srikanth: Why should I unnecessarily get into litigation? My money is not going to come back.

Nicky: Well, it might! The stock exchange might pay you from their investor protection fund, or they might instruct the broker to pay you the amount of loss incurred by you. In case the exchange is not able to settle the case and you lodge a complaint with SEBI, then SEBI might get the exchange or the broker to pay to you.

Srikanth (finally getting what I was talking about): But how do I lodge my complain?

Nicky: Now you are asking obvious questions…Complain by writing to them through post, mail, hand deliver your written complaint or talk to them on their toll free number. All these details are available on the SEBI website.

Srikanth: Thank you professor. Yet again, your inputs were very helpful.

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