RRF-GS

Government securities held electronically sit in the depository's Constituent SGL account. Some investors want out of that electronic form. They may want paper certificates instead. Or they may want the balance moved to another SGL entity's own book-entry system.

Either way, they have to ask for it on a form. That form is the RRF-GS. It does for government securities what the ordinary Rematerialisation Request Form does for equity shares. But it is a separate form, with its own separate request number.

From Chapter 11, section 11.4.4: the DP checks the RRF-GS for completeness, correctness and validity, and confirms sufficient free security balance is available. If in order, the DP accepts it, blocks the client's balance to the extent of the requested quantity, and intimates the depository, which blocks the same balance in its own system. The DP must forward the RRF-GS to the depository within seven days of accepting the client's request.

The depository forwards the rematerialisation request to RBI in the prescribed form, where a physical certificate is sought. On receiving RBI's debit confirmation, the depository confirms acceptance of the RRF-GS and forwards the physical certificates, with the form of transfer, directly to the client — or, where the request was for transfer to another SGL entity, confirms acceptance to the DP after RBI's approval and removes the balance from the client's account. The depository's G-Sec cell matches the Rematerialisation Request Number given on the RRF-GS against its own electronic message; a mismatch is sent to the DP by letter, and the DP must resolve it.

Mr Sethi holds Rs 25,00,000 face value of an 8.24% GOI security electronically in his Constituent SGL account and wants 60% of it — Rs 15,00,000 — converted to physical form.

He submits an RRF-GS for the Rs 15,00,000 portion. His DP checks the form, finds sufficient free balance, accepts it, and blocks Rs 15,00,000 of his holding, forwarding the RRF-GS to the depository within the required seven days. Once RBI confirms the debit, the depository confirms acceptance and despatches physical certificates worth Rs 15,00,000 directly to Mr Sethi, while his remaining Rs 10,00,000 stays in electronic form.

Chapter 11, section 11.4.4 (Rematerialisation of Government Securities), sets out the RRF-GS procedure. Expect the seven-day DP-to-depository forwarding window and the fact that the depository's G-Sec cell, not the DP, resolves a Rematerialisation Request Number mismatch.

• The RRF-GS is the G-Sec-specific rematerialisation form — distinct from the ordinary RRF used for equity, though the seven-day forwarding rule follows the same pattern.
• The depository's G-Sec cell resolves a mismatch on the Rematerialisation Request Number; the DP only receives and acts on the resulting mismatch letter.
• Electronic G-Sec balances in a Constituent SGL account can be rematerialised — do not let a review-question's wording about a different SGL type suggest otherwise.