Sebi allows storage, access of demat, mutual fund holdings in DigiLocker. Check 4 benefits

To address the problem of unclaimed assets in the securities markets, regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday partnered with government's digital document wallet DigiLocker, enabling investors to store and access information on their demat and mutual fund holdings.

DigiLocker users will now be able to fetch and store their statement of holdings for shares and mutual fund units from their demat accounts, along with their Consolidated Account Statement (CAS), a Sebi circular issued today, said.

DigiLocker currently facilitates citizens in obtaining and storing documents like Aadhaar, PAN, driving licence, death certificate among other things.


The issued documents in DigiLocker are deemed to be at par with originals as per Section 9A of Information Technology Act, 2000.

Here are 4 benefits from the said move:

1) Access to Securities Holdings: DigiLocker users can now fetch and store their statement of holdings for shares and mutual fund units from their demat accounts, along with their Consolidated Account Statement (CAS). This expands the existing DigiLocker services, which already include bank account statements, insurance policy certificates, and NPS account statements.

2) Nomination Facility for seamless access: Users can appoint Data Access Nominees within the DigiLocker application. In the event of the user's demise, these nominees will be granted read-only access to the DigiLocker account, ensuring that essential financial information is easily accessible to legal heirs.

The DigiLocker nominee itself can initiate the transmission of deceased investor’s financial assets, if he/she is also the nominee in the account/folio of the investor. Otherwise, the DigiLocker nominee/s will pass on the information in the holding statement of MF units and demat account to the surviving joint holder or nominee of the account/folio or the legal heir of the investor.

3) Automated notification to nominees: Upon notification of the user’s demise by KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs) — which are registered with and regulated by SEBI — the DigiLocker system will automatically notify the Data Access Nominees. This access is expected to facilitate the initiation of the transmission process with the relevant financial institutions.

4) Role of KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs): At this stage, KRAs will serve as the primary source for verifying and triggering notifications to Data Access Nominees, ensuring a smooth transition process.

This circular will come into effect from April 1, 2025.

In an advisory to Investors, Sebi circular said that investors could consider becoming users of DigiLocker and also consider specifying nominee/s for the DigiLocker.

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