Investor Charter
Also written Investor Charter for Stock Brokers · AIF · Investor Charter (AIF)
SEBI's published statement of what an investor is entitled to from an intermediary — the services, the rights, the dos and don'ts, and a table of activities with the timeline each one must be completed in.
In plain language
Most investor protection rules are written for the intermediary: do this, retain that, report the other. The Investor Charter is written for the investor, in the investor's language, and says what they should expect and by when.
It is not a brochure a broker may or may not hand out. SEBI requires it to be published on the broker's website, displayed at prominent places in the office, and included in the account opening kit given to every client, new and existing.
What gives it teeth is the timelines table. "Your contract note within 24 hours" is a promise an investor can check against a date stamp, and a complaint they can make when it is missed.
How it works
SEBI issued the current Investor Charter for Stock Brokers by circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD-PoD1/P/CIR/2025/22 dated 21 February 2025, covering the services provided, the rights of investors, activities with timelines, dos and don'ts, and the grievance redressal mechanism. Separate charters exist for stock exchanges and for other intermediaries, and KRAs and custodians are required to disseminate and comply with theirs.
The activity timelines a Series VII candidate is expected to know:
| Activity | Expected timeline |
|---|---|
| KYC entered into KRA system and CKYCR | 3 working days of account opening |
| Client onboarding | Immediate, not later than one week |
| Order execution | Immediate on receipt, not later than the same day |
| Allocation of Unique Client Code | Before trading |
| Copy of client registration documents to client | 7 days from upload of the UCC to the exchange |
| Issuance of contract notes | 24 hours of execution of trades |
| Collection of upfront margin from client | Before initiation of trade |
| Intimation of other margin dues | End of the T day |
| Settlement of client funds | First Friday/Saturday of the month or quarter, per the exchange's pre-announced schedule |
| Statement of Accounts for funds, securities, commodities | Monthly |
| Retention statement of funds/commodities | 5 days from the date of settlement |
| Annual Global Statement | 30 days from the end of the financial year |
| Investor grievance redressal | 21 calendar days from receipt of the complaint |
Alongside the charter, every stock broker must disclose on its website the data on complaints received against it and their redressal, by the 7th of the succeeding month, in SEBI's prescribed format. Separately, under the SEBI (Intermediaries) Regulations 2008, the broker uploads quarterly information on grievances received, redressed, and those unresolved beyond three months.
A worked example
A client opens an account on Monday 4 August and places her first order on Thursday 7 August for 200 shares at Rs 3,150 — Rs 6.30 lakh.
| What she is owed | By when | Date |
|---|---|---|
| KYC in KRA and CKYCR | 3 working days of account opening | 7 August |
| UCC allotted | Before trading | on or before 7 August |
| Contract note for the Rs 6.30 lakh trade | 24 hours of execution | 8 August |
| Copy of client registration documents | 7 days from UCC upload | mid-August |
| Statement of accounts | Monthly | end August |
| Annual Global Statement | 30 days from financial year end | 30 April |
The contract note does not arrive. She complains to the broker's compliance officer on 11 August. The charter gives the broker 21 calendar days — until 1 September — to redress it. If nothing happens, the escalation route is printed in the broker's office under Exhibit 7.1: compliance officer, then CEO or proprietor, then the exchange or depository, then SCORES at scores.sebi.gov.in, with SEBI's toll-free helpline on 1800 22 7575 / 1800 266 7575.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 7 (Investor Grievances and Arbitration, section 7.2) reproduces the charter and its timelines table in full, and the table is a question factory: contract note in 24 hours, UCC before trading, KYC to KRA in 3 working days, grievance redressal in 21 calendar days, annual global statement in 30 days. Chapter 2 also notes that custodians must comply with the Investor Charter and KRAs must disseminate it.
Common exam traps
- 21 calendar days, not working days. The grievance redressal timeline is calendar-day counted throughout SEBI's framework, and "working days" is the standard distractor.
- 3 working days for KYC upload, 7 days for the document copy, 24 hours for the contract note. These three are the most-swapped trio in the table.
- UCC allocation is "before trading", not "within a day of trading". There is no grace period; an unallotted code means no order.
- The 7th of the succeeding month is the website complaints disclosure. The quarterly upload under the Intermediaries Regulations is a separate obligation, and its threshold is grievances unresolved beyond three months.
- The charter must be given in the account opening kit as well as published on the website and displayed in the office. All three, not any one.
- There are several charters. The one for stock brokers dates from February 2025; the stock exchange charter was modified after SCORES 2.0 and the ODR platform came in.
Where this is taught
- Series XIX-D · Chapter 8: Legal Documents and Negotiationsintroduced here
- Series XIX-B · Chapter 5: Regulatory Frameworkintroduced here
- Series XV · Chapter 14: Legal and Regulatory Environmentintroduced here
- Series VII · Chapter 7: Investor Grievances and Arbitrationintroduced here
- Series IV · Chapter 10: Code of Conduct and Investor Protection Measuresintroduced here
- Series XIX-A · Chapter 9: Legal Documents and Negotiations - Investor Perspectiveintroduced here
- Series XIX-C · Chapter 13: Legal Documents and Negotiationsintroduced here
Related terms
- SCORESSEBI's centralised web-based system for processing investor complaints, on which the company or intermediary must upload an Action Taken Report and the investor can watch the status online.
- Action Taken ReportThe reply an entity must upload on SCORES saying what it did about an investor complaint — it is routed straight to the complainant and starts the clock on their right to ask for a review.
- Contract noteThe official communication from broker to client confirming executed trades.
- Investor Protection FundA trust-administered fund at every stock exchange and depository that compensates clients of a trading member who has been declared a defaulter or expelled, up to a per-investor limit the exchange fixes.
- Unique Client CodeThe single code a broker assigns to a client once KYC is complete, mapped to that client's PAN and demat account, under which every one of the client's orders must be entered on the exchange.
- Mis-sellingSelling securities or securities services by knowingly making a false statement, hiding material facts or risk, or not taking reasonable care that the product suits the buyer — an unfair trade practice.
- Qualified RTAA registrar servicing more than two crore folios — treated by SEBI as a Critical Infrastructure Institution and held to enhanced monitoring, reporting and business continuity requirements.