Sebi to identify places with high investor complaint density

The Sebi Complaints Redress System is the capital markets regulator's centralised Web-based complaints redressal system

Markets regulator Sebi plans to strengthen its investor grievance redressal system SCORES by benchmarking it with other such platforms globally while the database would be used to identify places with high complaint density.

The move is aimed at providing investors a fair marketplace by ensuring faster and efficient resolution of their complaints against listed companies, stock exchanges, brokers, mutual funds, investment banks and other entities.

The Sebi Complaints Redress System (SCORES) is the capital markets regulator's centralised Web-based complaints redressal system, which allows investors to lodge and follow up their complaints and track status online.

The platform also enables the market intermediaries and listed companies to receive complaints online from investors, redress such complaints and provide an Action Taken Report online.

All the activities starting from lodging of a complaint till its closure by Sebi are online in an automated environment and the complainant can view the status anytime online.

An investor who is not familiar with SCORES or does not have access to it, can lodge complaints in physical form at any Sebi office and such complaints are scanned and uploaded to the SCORES for further processing.

"It is proposed to further enhance the efficiency and reach of SCORES by conducting a user satisfaction survey and benchmarking it with similar systems with other agencies.

"The SCORES database would also be used to identify places where investor complaints are high and conduct investor camps at such places," Sebi said in its Plan of Action an internal memo to its board.

The proposal has been cleared by the board and Sebi plans to undertake these initiatives in the current fiscal itself.

According to the latest available data, Sebi received 33,550 investor grievances during 2013-14 while it resolved 35,299 issues during that year. This included the grievances that were resolved during 2013-14, but were pending from the previous year.

Earlier, in 2012-13, Sebi had received 42,411 grievances and had resolved 54,852 complaints.

Through SCORES, investors can file complaints against listed companies, stock brokers, stock exchanges, depository, depository participants, registrars and share transfer agents, mutual funds, portfolio managers, bankers to an issue, collective investment schemes, credit rating agencies, custodians of securities, debenture trustees, merchant bankers and underwriters.