MUMBAI, JULY 19: The National Securities Despository Ltd (NSDL) has revised its charge structure by setting up an upper ceiling for the depository participants (DP) having different average custody values. The charge would be thus be one basis point per annum as per the present structure or the ceiling amount whichever is lower.For average custody value during the quarter upto Rs 200 crore, the annual ceiling would be Rs 25,000. For Rs 200-500 crore, the ceiling would be Rs 50,000. Similarly, for average custody value of Rs 500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, the custody charges would be Rs 1,25,000 while for custody value of above Rs 2,000 crore, the charges would be Rs 4 lakh.The NSDL says in a statement that the above revision will bring substantial benefits to the market, for eg, a DP with 10,000 clients and a custody value of less than Rs 200 crore would pay Rs 2.5 per client per annum, which works out to 20 paise per client per month.NSDL has also revised the transaction charges. The charge will now be two basis points on the value of net delivery given by a clearing member and two basis points on the value of net delivery received. ``This restructuring of the existing transaction charges and it does create any additional burden on the market,'' it said in a statement.On the off-market charges, the NSDL is presently charging 10 basis points on the value of transaction for the account credited. It will now charge two basis point each for the accounts that are credited and debited. The new rate structure will come into effect from August 1, 1999.NSDL said that since the last review has been carried out in February 1999, the transaction volume has increased substantially and the first quarter of this year has seen the growth trend to continue. At present, NSDL has more than 8.5 lakh retail accounts and the value of the shares dematerialised has crossed Rs 1,50,000 crore as against 3 lakh investor accounts and Rs 95,000 demat value in February 1999. On an average, 65 per cent of the settlements on the major stock exchanges are carried out now in demat form as against 35 per cent in February 1999. Hence, the need to charge a higher charges.
