Depository accounts top 1.50 lakh

Moreover, with awareness about the benefits of the depository spreading across the country and more and more depository participants offering depository services frommore and more locations, investors are getting proactive and are coming to the depository seeing it as a benefit and not merely as a necessary evil.

"We have topped the 1,50,000 account mark yesterday. We took 21 months to cross the 50,000 account mark. The next 50,000 came in three months and the third 50,000 has taken just about a month-and-a-half. The depository juggernaut is rolling," said NSDL managing director CB Bhave.

Bhave said that the response from retail investors is picking up fast and admitted that there is a huge rush these days. He admitted that the depository participants are finding it difficult to undertake the account opening procedures owing to the rush although they are having no problem with dematerialising the shares as they have got used to dematerialising huge chunks of institutional and high networth investors’ holdings.

"With registrars and companies too no longer being burdened with paper the dematerialisation process is proceeding smoothly. However, with investors rushingin the way they are the depository participants are on their toes," Bhave said.

"The depository is gaining acceptance from the small investors and that is a healthy sign. The fact that investors from more than 1,500 locations have opened accounts with us shows that the small investor is aware of what the depository brings to him. Our focus now is on better service standards from depository participants," Bhave said.

Meanwhile, the Unit Trust of India (UTI) has decided to dematerialise 100 per cent of its equity holdings in companies which have signed up to offer the facility of dematerialisation to investors. The Trust is expected to shortly issue instructions to this effect to its custodian, the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL). UTI, the largest promoter of the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) was waiting all this while for the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) promoted depository to get operational.