1. What is a depository?

A depository is an organization where the securities of an investor are held in electronic form. A depository can be compared to a bank. Besides holding securities, a depository also provides services related to transactions in securities.

2. Who is a depository participant (DP)?

As an investor, you open a securities account with a DP. DPs are attached to the depositories very much the same way as commercial banks are attached to RBI. All interactions including account opening, dematerialization, transactions, pledge etc. are done through the DP.

3. How many types of Depository Participants are available?

National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) and Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) are the two DPs available in India. NSDL is the first depository to have started in India, whereas CDSL followed suit. However, most of the services offered by both these depositories are similar. Today, almost all the companies listed in dematerialized form with NSDL are available with CDSL.

4. Who is a Beneficiary Owner?

The person who holds a demat account is a beneficiary owner. In case of a joint account, the account holders will be beneficiary holders of that joint account.

5.  What is a DP Id?

A DP Id is the number of the depository participant allotted by the depository.

6.  How do I select a DP?

You can select your DP to open a demat account just like you select a bank for opening a savings account. Some of the important factors for selection of a DP can be:

Convenience	-	Proximity to your office/residence and compatibility of business hours.
Comfort	-	Reputation of the DP, past association with the organization and whether the DP is in a position to give the specific service you need.
Cost	-	The service charges levied by DP and the service standards.

7. Why should I have a demat account?

As an investor you will enjoy many benefits if you buy and sell shares in the depository mode.
The following are some of the benefits you will enjoy: -

-	No bad deliveries.
-	No risk of loss, mutilation or theft of share certificates
-	No stamp duty for transfer of shares.
-	Reduced paper work.
-	Fast settlement cycles.
-	Low interest rates on loans granted against pledge of dematerialized securities by banks.
-	Low margin on securities pledged with banks.
-	Increase in liquidity of your securities because of faster transfer and registration of securities in your account.
-	Instant disbursement of non-cash benefits like bonus and rights into your account.
-	Regular account status updates available from MODES (Modes Optimization and Delivery Estimation System) at any point of time.

8. What is paperless transaction?

A paperless transaction means you can deliver shares without Delivery Instruction (i.e. without any paper). You can effect a paperless transaction through Speed-e.



9. What is STP (Straight Through Processing)?

In the recent years we have seen drastic change in the Stock Market. At first we saw T+5 settlement and then T+3 to T+2 now SEBI is striving towards T+1 settlement from 31st March 2005. In this coming settlement process one has to have DP account with same house for smooth functioning because in T+1 the client will not get sufficient time to deposit instructions.

10. What is Speed-e?

NSDL has recently launched a facility for delivering instructions to your DP over the Internet, called SPEED-e. The facility can be used by all registered users. You can submit delivery instructions electronically, on the SPEED-e website https://speed-e.nsdl.com/, after your DP has authorised you to operate your account through the SPEED-e facility. You can monitor the status of such delivery instructions to ensure that the instructions have been executed.

11. Benefits of having Speed-e?

The following are the advantages of having a Speed-e accout:-

-	The client can give instruction without paper.
-	The client is 100% risk free as he can use Speed-e facility of Dynamic Equities and the shares can be transferred only to Dynamic Equities (NSE / BSE) pool accounts.
-	The client can give instructions through Internet from anywhere in the world.
-	In the T+1 settlement process the clients will have to give share delivery on the same day.

12. How do I know whether my DP is registered with NSDL for SPEED-e?

You can log on to https://speed-e.nsdl.com/ to find out the list of participants who are offering SPEED-e services.