Trading, demat account sans full KYC to remain active till Sept 30 as SEBI extends deadline

Demat, trading accountholders who could not update KYC details in their accounts by July 31, 2021 have been given a breather by the capital markets regulator. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), via a circular issued on July 30, 2021, announced that it has extended the KYC compliance deadline by two months to September 30, 2021. The decision was taken due to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, Sebi stated in its circular.

In April 2021, the two depositories, i.e., Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Limited (NDSL), issued circulars informing clients to update certain KYC attributes mandatorily before July 31, 2021 (the deadline for which has now been extended to September 30).

A demat, trading account holder is required to update the following KYC attributes:


a)Name
b)Address
c)PAN
d)Valid mobile number
e)Valid email ID
f)Income range

Had the deadline not been extended and one hadn't updated these KYC details in their demat or trading account, then the account would have been deactivated.

If an account is not KYC compliant, then an individual will not be able to trade in the stock market. Even if an individual buys shares of a particular company, these shares cannot be transferred to his/her account, till the time KYC attributes are updated and verified.

Before the original deadline (i.e., July 31, 2021) many stock brokers had sent communications to their clients to update the required KYC attributes to avoid getting demat and trading account deactivated. Now with extended timeline, clients now have two more months to get their demat or trading accounts KYC compliant.

Individuals should keep in mind that mobile number and email ID specified by you for KYC compliance has to be verified. Till the time, mobile number and email ID is not verified, the demat account will remain under 'Pending for Activation'. Stock brokers will not activate the demat account till the time mobile number and email ID is verified.