Delivery Instruction Slip
Also written DIS · Delivery Instruction Slip (DIS) · Delivery Instruction · DI slip
The signed form on which a beneficial owner instructs the DP to debit the demat account — no beneficiary account can be debited without one, whether the transfer is on-market or off-market.
In plain language
A demat account can be credited without the holder lifting a finger, if a standing instruction is in place. It can never be debited that way.
The rule is absolute: a beneficiary account is debited only when the beneficial owner has given a Delivery Instruction in the prescribed form — the Delivery Instruction Slip. All holders, or the authorised signatories, or the power-of-attorney holder must sign it. The form must be complete, and it must say clearly whether the transfer is a market transfer or an off-market one, because the depository processes the two along different routes.
A DIS booklet is therefore the cheque book of the demat account, and SEBI treats it with the seriousness that implies.
How it works
What has to be on the form depends on the kind of transfer.
For a market transfer the DIS must carry the name of the stock exchange, the market type and the settlement number for which the securities are being delivered, plus the CM BP ID of the clearing member account — the contract note tells the client all of these. A broker trading on more than one exchange keeps a separate set of CM accounts per exchange.
For an off-market transfer the "off-market trade" box is ticked, an execution date may be specified, and since 1 November 2020 the client's consent must additionally be confirmed through an OTP — an instruction left unconfirmed at end of day on the execution date is rejected. The transferee's account must also have been registered as a beneficiary under the transferor's account beforehand. Consideration details — mode of payment, bank account, date, cheque or reference number — are mandatory.
On timing, SEBI has advised DPs to instruct clients to submit settlement instructions on T+1, in physical form up to 4 p.m. and electronic instructions up to 6 p.m.
And the audit trail: under the SEBI circular of 7 January 2014, effective 1 October 2014, the DP must scan each used DIS, tag it to the correct serial number and upload the image to the depository not later than two days. Failure attracts a penalty.
A worked example
A private off-market sale: 2,000 shares at Rs 415, a consideration of Rs 8,30,000, from a seller with one DP to a buyer with another.
| Step | Who acts | What is needed |
|---|---|---|
| Register the buyer as a beneficiary | Seller | Registration form + OTP authentication |
| Submit the DIS, "off-market" ticked | Seller | Signed by all holders; execution date entered |
| Capture consideration | DP | Rs 8,30,000, mode, bank, date, reference number |
| Confirm the instruction | Seller | OTP on registered mobile / e-mail, before end of execution day |
| Receive the 2,000 shares | Buyer | Standing instruction, or a Receipt Instruction form |
| Scan and upload the DIS | Seller's DP | Within two days, tagged to the DIS serial number |
If the seller ignores the OTP link, the instruction sits in "Pending for OTP Confirmation" and is rejected at end of day. Nothing moves, and the Rs 8,30,000 the buyer has already paid is sitting against no delivery.
For a market sale of the same 2,000 shares, the DIS instead carries the exchange, market type, settlement number and the broker's CM BP ID, and must be with the DP before the DP's acceptance deadline — physical instructions by 4 p.m., electronic by 6 p.m.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 8 (Functions of DP — Trading and Settlement) is built on the DIS, and Chapter 4 covers its issue. Expect the rule that a beneficiary account can be debited only on a delivery instruction, the three market-trade fields the slip must carry, the number of DIS issued free at account opening for a BSDA, and the OTP requirement for off-market transfers.
Common exam traps
- Credits can be automatic; debits never are. A standing instruction covers receipts only — it can never authorise a debit.
- At least two DIS must be issued at the time of account opening for a Basic Services Demat Account.
- A client who has executed a power of attorney cannot be denied a DIS book. DPs must supply the book and let the client operate the account alongside the POA holder.
- A DIS is not a DDPI. The Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction, introduced by SEBI in April 2022, is a standing authorisation to the broker for the limited purpose of meeting pay-in obligations; a DIS is a single instruction for a single transfer.
- Market versus off-market must be ticked. An off-market DIS lacking exchange, market type and settlement number is correct; a market DIS lacking them is not.
- The OTP waiver exists only for the off-market reason code "Implementation of Government / Regulatory Direction / Orders" — not for ordinary transfers between family members.
- Two days is the DIS scanning and upload deadline, and it is enforced with a penalty on the DP.
Where this is taught
- Series IV · Chapter 10: Code of Conduct and Investor Protection Measuresintroduced here
- Series I · Chapter 10: Codes of Conduct and Investor Protection Measuresintroduced here
- Series II-A · Chapter 12: Processes related to Depositoriesintroduced here
- Series VI · Chapter 8: Functions of DP- Trading and Settlementintroduced here
- Series VII · Chapter 5: Clearing Processintroduced here
Related terms
- Demat Debit and Pledge InstructionA limited, optional authorisation letting the broker (or broker-DP) debit a client's demat account only for settlement delivery, margin pledges, exchange MF orders and open-offer tenders - in place of a PoA.
- Settlement numberA unique identifier tagging a trade or batch of trades to a particular settlement cycle and date, used by brokers, clearing corporations and depositories to match and reconcile obligations.
- Standing instructionA one-time authority, usually given at account opening, for the DP to credit securities into the account without a fresh instruction each time — the alternative is a Receipt Instruction for every single receipt.
- Market transactionSettlement of a trade executed on a stock exchange, moving through a Clearing Corporation/House and the seller's and buyer's clearing member accounts — as opposed to an off-market transaction settled person-to-person.
- Off-market transactionA transfer of securities between two demat accounts on terms agreed between the parties, settled directly through the depository without a clearing member or clearing corporation.
- Receipt InstructionThe form a transferee submits to its own DP to accept one specific incoming credit into its demat account, needed only when no blanket Standing Instruction is already on file.
- Clearing member accountThe special demat account a broker or custodian opens to settle exchange trades, through which clients' sold shares go to the clearing corporation and bought shares arrive; also called the pool account.
- Consideration AmountThe value of an off-market transfer or pledge invocation captured in the depository system from the transferor's DIS, on which stamp duty is calculated and collected before the transfer executes.
- Mass shifting facilityThe depository facility that lets a DP move a whole group of client accounts from one DP module or location to another in one go - for example when it opens a new centre - without clients re-opening accounts.
- Execution dateThe date on which a depository instruction is to take effect: a DIS debit waits till the end of that day for balance and then fails; for allotments and corporate actions, the day credits are made.
- Password UserA SPEED-e access mode that lets a demat account holder submit delivery instructions online but only to a maximum of six pre-notified Clearing Member accounts, unlike a Smart Card/e-Token user who faces no such cap.
- Instruction IDThe unique number the DP system generates for each off-market delivery instruction it enters, which the DP writes on the instruction slip for future reference.
- SPEED-eNSDL's internet-based facility, launched in September 2001, letting demat account holders and Clearing Members submit delivery instructions directly online instead of on paper.
- SPICEThe SPEED-e facility letting a Clearing Member, holding a client's Power of Attorney, submit auto pay-in instructions on the client's behalf, with no paper delivery instruction from the client.
- Settlement cycleThe time window, fixed by the exchange, within which securities and funds for a trade must be delivered — T+1 in Indian secondary markets since 27 January 2023, meaning one trading day after the trade.