Target segment
The specific population a Social Enterprise's project affects, and how — a mandatory ICDR disclosure item for NPOs, and a required field in the Annual Impact Report's Strategic Intent section.
In plain language
An NPO raising money on a Social Stock Exchange cannot just say it "helps people." SEBI's disclosure rules make it name, precisely, who it means.
The workbook calls this the target segment. Under the ICDR Regulations' minimum disclosure requirements for an NPO issuing Zero Coupon Zero Principal instruments, the organisation must define its target segment and its planned reach: a clear identification of those affected by the problem, and how they are affected. It must also disclose how its approach improves inclusion for that segment.
The same idea resurfaces once an enterprise is already registered or listed. Its Annual Impact Report must state, under Strategic Intent and Planning, "who is being impacted (target segment)?", and must say whether that answer has changed from the year before. Its Impact Score Card must include narratives of impact specifically on the target segment.
How it works
Where target segment is a mandatory disclosure:
| Context | Requirement |
|---|---|
| NPO's minimum initial disclosure for a ZCZP issue | Define target segment and reach; identify who is affected and how; disclose how the approach improves inclusion (Regulation 292K) |
| Annual Impact Report, Strategic Intent and Planning | State who is being impacted (target segment), and whether this has changed in the last year (Regulation 91E) |
| Annual Impact Report, Impact Score Card | Include narratives of impact on the target segment(s) |
A related but separate use of the phrase. Regulation 292E's eligibility test also asks an enterprise to target "underserved or less privileged population segments... or such other target segments as may be specified by SEBI" — this is about eligibility to register as a social enterprise at all, a different, earlier gate than the ongoing disclosure requirement this page covers.
No rupee figure attaches to target segment itself. It is a descriptive disclosure requirement. The numbers that follow from it, such as beneficiary counts and coverage percentages, belong to the specific project's own reporting, not to the definition of target segment.
A worked example
Illustrative NPO; figures are made up.
Prakash Netra Trust lists a ZCZP issue for a cataract-surgery project. Its minimum initial disclosure names its target segment precisely: women aged 50 and above, below the poverty line, in 3 blocks of rural Madhya Pradesh, not "the visually impaired" in general.
A year later, its Annual Impact Report's Strategic Intent section restates the same target segment, and notes one change: the trust has added a fourth block to its coverage after a state health survey found similar need there. Its Impact Score Card reports that 1,200 of the 1,450 women in the target segment who were screened have now had surgery, a narrative built specifically around that named group, not around "cataract patients" generally.
A donor reading both disclosures can track the same defined group over time, which is exactly the point of naming a target segment precisely rather than describing beneficiaries loosely.
Why NISM asks about it
Chapter 9 (Disclosure Norms, Reporting Requirements by Social Impact Assessor and Penalties), section 9.1.1, names target segment as a mandatory ICDR minimum disclosure item, and section 9.2.4 requires it again under the Annual Impact Report's Strategic Intent and Impact Score Card. Expect a question naming which disclosure item asks "who is being impacted," or one distinguishing this ongoing disclosure requirement from Regulation 292E's eligibility-stage "target segments" test.
Common exam traps
- Target segment appears at two different stages: once as a one-time minimum initial disclosure (ICDR, Regulation 292K), and again every year in the Annual Impact Report (LODR, Regulation 91E).
- Regulation 292E's "target segments" is about eligibility to register as a social enterprise at all — do not conflate it with the ongoing disclosure requirement this page mainly covers.
- The disclosure must say how the approach improves inclusion, not just name the segment — naming alone does not satisfy the requirement.
- Do not confuse target segment with target community — target community is Chapter 7's broader area/population concept used to measure direct impact; target segment is the specific ICDR/LODR disclosure field.
Check yourself
1.Under the ICDR minimum disclosures for an NPO, which head requires disclosure of the number of beneficiaries, cost per beneficiary and administrative overheads?
- a)Finance
- b)Social Impact
- c)Target Segment
- d)Management
Show the answer
Answer: (b) Social Impact
The Social Impact head asks for past social impact, highlighting trends in key metrics, the number of beneficiaries, cost per beneficiary and administrative overheads.
Finance is three years of financial statements under ICAI guidelines — overheads feel financial, which is the trap. Target Segment is about who is affected and how. Management is about key staff and appraisal.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series XXIIIRelated terms
- Annual Impact ReportThe yearly report of social impact every social enterprise registered on or raising funds through an SSE must file under LODR Regulation 91E, covering at least 67% of the previous year's programme expenditure.
- Not for Profit OrganisationA social enterprise that is a charitable trust, charitable society or Section 8 company (or other entity SEBI specifies); it can register on an SSE and raise money mainly through ZCZP instruments.
- Target communityThe area or population an NPO or Social Enterprise establishes as its intervention's focus — the group direct impact is measured against, distinct from the wider reach of systemic impact.
- ICDR RegulationsSEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 — the rulebook for raising capital, whose Chapter X-A governs the Social Stock Exchange, NPO registration and ZCZP issuance.