Commodity exchanges need to create fund of regulatory fee cut for farmers, FPOs: SEBI

22 Mar 2019 Evaluate

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has decided that the stock exchanges dealing with agricultural commodity derivatives shall create a separate fund earmarked for the benefit of farmers/FPOs (farmers producer organisations) in which the regulatory fee forgone by the regulator shall be deposited. It had decided to levy a nominal fee of Rs 1 lakh per exchange instead of levying charges based on turnover slab rates and proposed to set up a fund with the fee foregone by it.

Besides, the regulator has issued framework including action plan and guiding principles for the utilisation of fund. For the fund, it said the exchange needs to draw an action plan for full utilisation of foregone fee in any financial year to be utilised during the succeeding financial year. It added that such action plan shall be drawn up by the April 10, 2019 in which the fund has to be utilised.

The exchanges would be required to disseminate the details of the action plan on their websites under intimation to SEBI. The earmarked fund shall not be clubbed with any other funds such as Investor Protection Fund, Investor Services Fund, and Corporate Social Responsibility Funds. Factors like waiver or subsidy in warehousing charges, reimbursement of cost of bags provided to farmers and FPOs for deposits on exchange platform, and subsidising of broker fee for farmers, among others, should be considered by exchanges for preparing action plan.

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