Sebi slaps Rs 14 lakh fine on 7 cos in investor complaints case
Companies were required to view complaints pending against them, redress them and submit ATRs.
New Delhi: Sebi has imposed a total penalty of Rs 14 lakh on seven firms for failing to resolve investor grievances and file Action Taken Reports (ATRs) for respective complaints in the market regulator's online complaint system.
The seven companies penalised by Sebi are In House Productions, Nimbus Industries, Classic Diamonds (India), Innoventive Venture, Atharv Enterprises, Cifco Finance and City Lifts India.
In seven separate orders, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has levied a fine of Rs 2 lakh each on the companies. Nimbus Industries failed to resolve two complaints pending against it, while the remaining six firms were having one investor grievance each pending against them.
The companies were required to view the complaints pending against them, redress them and submit ATRs electronically in SCORES. The firms, however, failed to redress the investor grievances within the prescribed time limit of 30 days.
According to Sebi norms, a company is required to take appropriate steps within seven days of receipt of complaint through SCORES, resolve the complaint within 30 days and file the ATR in SCORES within 30 days of receipt of the said complaint.
It is noted that the "disproportionate gain or unfair advantage made by the firms or loss caused to the investors" as a result of the failure to resolve investor complaints within the specified time and failure to file the ATR in the scores are not available on record.
"However, lack of due diligence demonstrated by the notice is a risk to the securities market and thus loss to the investors to that extent," Sebi said in similar-worded orders.