Sebi Spends Over Rs 62 Crore on Investor Education in Five Years

Capital markets regulator Sebi has spent over Rs 62 crore in the past five years on investor education activities, including awareness of risks and volatility in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment. Awareness initiatives include statutory warnings, videos, and mandatory Risk Disclosure Documents. In FY23-24 alone, Sebi conducted 43,826 investor awareness programs.

Capital markets regulator Sebi has spent a little over Rs 62 crore in the last five years for investors' education activities, Parliament was informed Tuesday. This effort includes awareness regarding risks and volatility in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment.

Sebi allocated Rs 2.73 crore for investor protection and education activities in FY 2023-24, a significant portion of its Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF). Additionally, Rs 11.93 crore was spent in FY23, Rs 6.81 crore in FY22, Rs 28.84 crore in FY21, and Rs 11.84 crore in FY20, said Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Highlighting measures to regulate volatility in the F&O segment, Chaudhary mentioned that Sebi, along with other Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), regularly undertakes investor awareness programs. These include statutory warnings on broker screens, several investor awareness videos on social media platforms, and mandatory signing of a Risk Disclosure Document (RDD) at the time of account opening. Sebi, along with its regulated entities, conducted 43,826 investor awareness programs across 687 districts in FY23-24.

(With inputs from agencies.)