Informal Guidance: Sebi discontinues fee payment via demand draft

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Tuesday said it will no longer accept demand drafts concerning the fee charged for requesting informal guidance about applicability of rules.

Now, the regulator will accept the fee by way of direct credit into its bank account.

Sebi's Informal Guidance Scheme enables certain entities to request for informal guidance regarding the applicability of laws and regulations administered by the markets regulator in the form of "No Action Letters" or "Interpretive Letters" from the markets watchdog.

In a statement, Sebi said that it has been decided to do away with the acceptance of a demand draft with respect to the fee charged for making a request under the scheme.

Accordingly, the regulator said that the request under the informal guidance "shall be accompanied with a fee of Rs 25,000 by way of direct credit into the bank account of the board through NEFT/RTGS/IMPS or online payment using the Sebi payment gateway".

To give this effect, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Informal Guidance) Scheme has been amended.