Sebi bars Vishwas Steel, directors on SCORES violation

Markets regulator Sebi has barred Vishwas Steel and its nine directors from the securities market for not complying with the regulator's online complaint redressal system SCORES.
A Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) probe found that the firm did not obtain SCORES authentication even after repeated reminders and also failed to redress 14 pending investor grievances in due time.
The probe also found that the investor complaints were pending unresolved since 1997.
"Failure to redress investor grievances by a listed company adversely affects the confidence of investors in the securities market," Sebi's Whole-time Member Rajeev Kumar Agarwal said in an order.

The firm and its directors are restrained from accessing the securities market and buying, selling or dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, till the company obtains SCORES authentication and resolves all the investor grievances pending against it, he added.
Launched in June 2011, SCORES provides a centralised database of all investor complaints. Online forwarding of complaints to the listed companies concerned and upload of their action taken reports are done through this mechanism.
It also helps investors view, track and follow up the action taken on their grievances. The online redressal system has significantly helped in reducing the processing time of complaints.