SEBI pays up to Rs 20 Lakh for tips on defaulters

New Delhi:

With the aim of recovering fines from elusive offenders, capital markets regulator Sebi today introduced a reward scheme for up to Rs 20 lakh to informants for sharing information on the assets of defaulters.

The reward can be awarded in two phases: interim and final.

While the interim award amount shall not exceed two and a half per cent of the reserve price of the tipped asset or Rs 5 lakh, whichever is less, and the final award amount shall not exceed 10 per cent of the tipped back dues or Rs 20 lakh, whichever is less.

Sebi issued guidelines for awarding a reward to an informant who provides credible information about the defaulter’s assets in a recovery proceeding, Sebi said: “information and the identity provided by the informant or the reward paid to him, will be kept confidential.” According to Sebi, an individual is considered an informant eligible for reward if he or she provides original information regarding a defaulter’s assets with respect to dues certified as “difficult to collect.”

The hard-to-collect dues are the ones that could not be collected even after exhausting all forms of collection.

The regulator has also issued a list of 515 defaulters, about whom information can be provided by any informant.

In addition, for the purpose of recommending eligibility for a reward, Sebi will set up an informant compensation committee consisting of the general manager of the Recovery and Refund Department, the appropriate recovery officer with jurisdiction in the case, another recovery officer designated by the chief general manager and an officer of the rank of deputy general manager or higher of the Office of Investor Assistance and Education appointed by the general manager in charge of Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF).

The Informant Compensation Committee shall make its recommendations to the appropriate authority on matters relating to the eligibility of informants for remuneration and the determination of the amount of remuneration to be paid to informants.

Sebi said the amount of the reward awarded to the informant will be paid from the Investor Protection and Education Fund.

The new guidelines came into effect from March 8, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

According to Sebi’s annual report for 2021-22, at the end of March 2022, the market regulator segregated the dues amounting to Rs 67,228 crore under the “difficult to recover” (DTR) category.

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