SCORES 2.0
Also written SEBI Complaint Redress System 2.0 · SCORES 2.0 portal
The version of SEBI's online complaint redress system launched on 1 April 2024, which auto-routes complaints, gives the entity 21 calendar days to file an Action Taken Report, and auto-escalates when it does not.
In plain language
SCORES is SEBI's centralised, web-based grievance system for complaints against listed companies and registered intermediaries — a DP included. It has been running since 8 June 2011 and is available around the clock.
On 1 April 2024 SEBI replaced it with SCORES 2.0, at https://scores.sebi.gov.in. The point of the new version is not a new website. It is that the process now runs on clocks and automatic escalation rather than on an investor chasing somebody.
Complaints are auto-routed to the entity with a copy to a Designated Body; deadlines are shorter; and a missed deadline escalates the complaint to the next level by itself.
How it works
The sequence is a ladder, and every rung has a number.
| Stage | Who acts | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Approach the entity's own compliance / investor complaint officials | Investor | before using SCORES |
| Lodge the complaint on SCORES | Investor | within 1 year of the date of occurrence |
| Upload the Action Taken Report | Entity | 21 calendar days from receipt |
| Request a first review | Investor, if dissatisfied | 15 calendar days from the ATR |
| Deliver the revised ATR | Designated Body | 10 days from the review request |
| Request a second review | Investor, if still dissatisfied | 15 calendar days from the Designated Body's ATR |
| Dispose or close the complaint | SEBI | on SEBI's disposal, not on filing of an ATR |
The first review also begins automatically if the entity has not filed its ATR within 21 days. Where no Designated Body has been appointed for an intermediary, SEBI itself handles the first review. Registration on the portal is eased by integration with the KYC Registration Agency database.
Some complaints are excluded altogether: those against unlisted, delisted, vanishing or liquidated companies, those tied to court or quasi-judicial proceedings or to a dispute already in ODR, those in another regulator's jurisdiction, and those against companies under the insolvency and bankruptcy code.
A worked example
An investor's DP fails to credit 500 shares worth Rs 3,60,000 after a demat request, and stops responding. The investor first writes to the DP's compliance officer, gets nowhere, and lodges on SCORES on 1 July.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 July | Complaint lodged; auto-routed to the DP, copy to the Designated Body |
| by 22 July | DP must upload its ATR — 21 calendar days |
| 22 July | No ATR filed, so the first review starts automatically |
| by 1 August | Designated Body delivers a revised ATR — 10 days |
| 1 August | ATR received; investor is dissatisfied |
| by 16 August | Investor requests the second review — 15 calendar days |
| thereafter | SEBI initiates review with the DP and the Designated Body |
Under the old system the investor would have been sending reminders through all of this. Under SCORES 2.0 the 22 July default escalated the matter without the investor doing anything at all.
One caution the investor should know before choosing: if the investor takes the same dispute to ODR or to a civil or consumer court while the SCORES complaint is pending, the SCORES complaint is deemed resolved. It is one route or the other, not both at once.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 13 (Investor Services) covers SCORES and the redressal ladder. This is a chapter of dates and day-counts, and that is exactly how it is examined: the launch date of SCORES 2.0, the 21 calendar days for the ATR, the 15 days to seek a review, the 10 days for the Designated Body, and the one-year limit for lodging a complaint in the first place.
Common exam traps
- 21 days is the entity's, 10 days is the Designated Body's, 15 days is the investor's — for either review. Four numbers, one question.
- One year from the date of occurrence is the limit for lodging, and the investor must first approach the entity itself.
- The first review is by the Designated Body, the second by SEBI. SEBI conducts the first review only where no Designated Body has been appointed for that intermediary.
- A complaint is "resolved" only when SEBI disposes of it at second review — not merely when an ATR is filed.
- Choosing ODR or a court while the complaint is pending deems the SCORES complaint resolved. The investor cannot run both.
- SCORES began in 2011; SCORES 2.0 started on 1 April 2024. Since that date complaints can be lodged only on the new portal.
- Complaints against unlisted or delisted companies are excluded — except where they relate to securities valuation.
Where this is taught
- Series II-A · Chapter 15: Client Servicingintroduced here
- Series VI · Chapter 13: Investor Servicesintroduced 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.
- ArbitrationQuasi-judicial dispute resolution under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, run online by an ODR Institution once conciliation fails; the award binds unless challenged under Section 34.
- Designated BodyUnder SEBI's revised SCORES framework, the body that monitors a regulated entity's complaint redressal and conducts the first review; for stock brokers it is the stock exchange.
- Auto-escalationA SCORES 2.0 feature that automatically pushes an investor complaint to the next review level when a market participant or Designated Body misses the prescribed redressal timeline.
- Online Dispute ResolutionThe MII-administered process — pre-conciliation, conciliation, then arbitration — through which investor disputes with portfolio managers are resolved online via the SMART ODR portal.
- Securities and Exchange Board of IndiaThe statutory regulator of India's securities market, set up under the SEBI Act, 1992, to protect investors and to develop and regulate the market. It registers brokers, DPs and mutual funds.
- ConciliationThe first, consensual stage of SMART ODR: a sole independent conciliator appointed by an ODR Institution tries to settle an investor dispute within 21 days, and if it fails fixes the admissible claim value.