Investors not to pay for maintaining KYC data, says Sebi

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), which is working on simplifying the Know Your Client (KYC) process for easy investing, on Saturday said there will be no burden on investors for maintaining their data with the KYC Registration Agency (KRA).

"I do not think there will be any burden of charges on investors for maintaining their KYC data as it is likely to be borne by intermediaries," Sebi executive director P K Nagpal said on the sidelines of CII organised Financial Market Conclave.

In case of demat, an investor has to pay a certain annual maintenance and usage charges for their account with the two depositories.

In case of single KYC data, KYC Registration Agency will do the record keeping. Nagpal said the KRA regulations had been notified and Sebi was working closely with stock exchanges and intermediaries for the rollout of the new simplified norm.

Under the new process, once the investor has undergone the KYC process, an intermediary shall perform the initial KYC of its clients and upload the details on the system of the KRA. If the investor intends to open account with another intermediary, the intermediary concerned can verify and download the client's details from the system of the KRA.

This will help the investor in avoiding going through KYC process every time he makes an investment through a single or multiple intermediaries.

Sebi has issued guidelines for uniform KYC process for the investors who intend to open accounts with different intermediaries in the securities market.