Demat account holders more than double in 3 years to 7.38 crore: Govt

The number of Demat account holders in the country has more than doubled in the past 3 years as of October 31, 2021, revealed information shared by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with the Ministry of Finance.

As per the information provided by SEBI, there are around 2.75 crore mutual fund (MF) investors, 7.38 crore Demat account holders and 1,324 SEBI Registered Investment Advisors (RIA), wrote Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday.

The ratio of mutual fund investors and demat account holders to the Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) in India is around 76,510: 1, the minister added.

The population of demat account holders in the country has gone from 3.59 core in 2018-19 to 7.38 core in the current fiscal year up to October 31, 2021. The number of Demat account holders has increased by 1.87 crore from 5.51 crore in the previous financial year.

The significant jump seems to come mostly on the back of bourses' attractive valuations and eased interest regime of Reserve Bank of India.

Answering a question on whether the high barriers to entry have led to the reduced number of authorized financial advisors in the country, the minister stated that as per the information provided by SEBI, the RIA have increased from 1,298 (as on June 30, 2020) to 1324 (as on October 31, 2021).

Chaudhary further stated that SEBI (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 were notified on January 21, 2013 in order to strengthen the regulatory framework for Investment Advisers. Subsequently, certain amendments to the Investment Advisers Regulations were notified on July 3, 2021, the minister added.

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