The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Monday, said that all depository participants (DPs) would make available a Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA) with limited services and reduced costs for retail individual investors if the value of securities held in the demat account does not exceed Rs.2 lakh at any point of time. “An individual can have only one BSDA in his/her name across all depositories,” said SEBI. Only the sole or first holder would be eligible for BSDA.
The annual maintenance charges (AMC) structure for BSDA would be on a slab basis. If the value of holding is up to Rs.50,000, there will be nil AMC and for Rs.50,001-200,000, the AMC will be up to Rs.100.
The value of holding would be determined by the DPs on the basis of the daily closing price or NAV of the securities or units of mutual funds. If the value of holding in such BSDA exceeds the prescribed criteria on any date, the DPs may levy charges as applicable to regular accounts (non-BSDA) from that date onwards. Further, SEBI said that transaction statements would be sent to the BO (beneficiary owner) at the end of each quarter. If there are no transactions in any quarter, no transaction statement may be sent for that quarter.
One annual physical statement of holding would be sent to the BO in respect of accounts with no transaction and nil balance and for remaining accounts one annual statement would be sent in electronic or physical form as opted for by the BO.
