SEBI's 'Difficult To Recover' Dues Surge 4% In FY24

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has categorised dues amounting to Rs 76,293 crore as difficult to recover as of March 31, reflecting a 4% increase compared to the previous year.

A significant portion of these dues are tied to cases pending before court-appointed committees. DTR dues are those that remain uncollected despite all recovery efforts.

SEBI emphasised in its annual report for 2023–24 that the classification of these dues is an administrative measure and does not prevent recovery officers from pursuing them if conditions change.

In FY24, SEBI identified 807 cases as DTR, totalling Rs 76,293 crore, up from 692 cases amounting to Rs 73,287 crore the previous year. Among these, 36 cases involving Rs 12,199 crore are pending due to ongoing proceedings in state PID courts, the National Company Law Tribunal, and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.

Additionally, 60 cases, involving Rs 59,970 crore, are before court-appointed committees. Together, these categories account for 95% of the total unrecovered amount.

SEBI's report also highlighted 140 DTR certificates under the "untraceable" category, with 131 related to individuals and nine to companies, amounting to Rs 13.3 crore and Rs 15.7 crore, respectively.

SEBI has been publishing data on DTR cases in its annual reports since 2021–22 to increase transparency in its enforcement actions. As of March 31, 2024, a total of 6,781 recovery certificates had been issued, with 3,871 still pending.

Overall, SEBI has Rs 1.03 lakh crore in dues to be recovered from entities that have failed to pay fines, fees, or comply with orders to refund investors' money. Of this, Rs 63,206 crore (61.5% of the total dues) is tied to the Collective investment scheme and deemed public issue matters involving PACL Ltd and Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd.

In FY24, SEBI initiated 342 new investigations into alleged securities law violations, a significant increase from the 144 cases in the previous year. These cases involved market manipulation, price rigging, and insider trading.

SEBI completed 197 investigations during the year, with 174 related to insider trading, 160 to market manipulation and price rigging, and seven to other securities law violations. The investigations were based on referrals from SEBI's integrated surveillance department, other operational departments, and external government agencies.

(With text inputs from PTI)