Bse Issues Notice To 261 Firms Over Investor Plaints
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has sent letters of warning to 261 companies to resolve pending investor-linked complaints or face disciplinary action before the governing board of the exchange.
Additionally it could also face action from the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Sebi) and the Department of Company Affairs (DCA).
According to data available, the BSE (till February 18, 1997) had 34,318 complaints outstanding against 3,343 companies.
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The exchange has decided to get tough with the corporates, having identified the companies which have more than 50 complaints pending against it.
The cases relate to investor grievances linked to non-transfer of share certificates, warrants, bonus shares, non-payment of dividend, non-receipt of debenture certificates, redemption amount of debentures, annual reports and other issues.
The exchange will also prepare a report listing out the complaints against the companies, course of action taken and present it to Sebi.
The BSE executive director R C Mathur last week shot out the letters to the companies, which include some key blue chip companies, including IDBI, while others include non-specified group stocks.
The exchange had in December 1996 issued show cause notices to 19 companies covering 2,949 complaints.
In the fresh round of addressals, there are 60 companies where the complaints are above 50 while there are 201 companies against whom the complaints range between 25-50 in nature. The letters addressed to the 261 companies cover 13,200 complaints.
The operations of the investor grievances cell has been a weak area in earlier years. We are seeking to streamline the operations just prior to embarking on the BOLT expansion plan, Mathur said. Mathur said that even while the exchange was cleaning up its act on this front, there has been a lackadaisical approach to the whole issue from the corporates.
The governance of corporate operations needs to be strengthened over the years companies have simply not addressed these issues as stock exchanges have not been equipped with the powers to take necessary action, Mathur assessed.
According to the data from the investor grievances and guidance cell of Sebi, during the fortnight ending January 31, 5603 complaints were received, during the fortnight and 7,066 complaints were resolved. Hanil Era Textiles topped the list of redressals.