The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued revisions in the framework for Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA) to help enhance financial inclusion. The capital markets regulator as part of the changes increased the value of securities that can be held in the BSDA from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The regulator issued an official circular on Friday and said, “Value of securities held in the demat account shall not exceed Rs 10 Lakhs for debt and other than debt securities combined at any point of time.”
SEBI also noted that to be eligible for the account, an individual must posses only one demat account where he/she is the sole or first holder and the individual should have only one BDSA in their name across all depositories, reported Moneycontrol.
Typically, the services available for these accounts include electronic statements that shall be provided free of charge, and physical statements that shall be provided for a charge of Rs 25 per statement. The circular further stated that all the other conditions that are applicable on regular demat accounts shall also apply on BSDA, apart from the two services mentioned here.
For the accounts, the maintenance charges shall differ based on the securities value. For individuals owing securities worth up to Rs 4 lakh, no maintenance charges will apply. Whereas, for individual holding securities worth over Rs 4 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh, a maintenance charge of Rs 100 would be applicable, while with securities over Rs 10 lakh, the accounts would not be considered BSDA and will attract regular charges.
The official circular noted that the value of the holding shall be decided by the depository participants (DPs) based on the daily closing price or NAV of the securities or mutual fund units, as applicable.
The DPs have been urged to re-evaluate the eligibility of all owners to hold BSDA within two months from the date of issue of the circular and trade all eligible accounts to BSDA.
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