Sebi slashes broker fees to ease trade

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday approved a proposal to lower fees charged from brokers, stock exchanges and companies seeking to get listed in order to bring down cost of trading in stock markets. The current rate is Rs 1 crore plus Rs 6 per crore for the turnover in excess of Rs 10 lakh crore. It has been decided to reduce this fee by 80 per cent. Structure with effect from April 1, 2019.

The Sebi board also approved a proposal to grant permanent registration to custodians, instead of periodical renewal every year.

Sebi said it would facilitate ease of doing business for custodians. All other market intermediaries are already being given permanent registration by Sebi.

The market regulator said it has been following the practice of calibrating the fees either upwards or downwards from time to time so as to keep a balance between the transaction cost on securities market and the financial resources required to ensure regulatory efficiency.

Keeping this objective in mind and taking into consideration the projected income and expenditure of Sebi for the next three financial years, the board has decided to revise the fee structure with effect from April 1, 2019, in respect of certain market participants, the regulator said.