How To Check Your Investment Holding Details And Safeguard Against Anomalies

Rakesh Mani, a user, posted about missing shares on the Facebook group ‘Asan Ideas For Wealth’. What happened was that he bought 25 shares of a company through his broker’s platform; it showed up as 25 units on his broker’s demat interface, too. But when he checked by logging into the CDSL portal, he found only 24 units in his demat account. He called up the broker’s customer service, and they too told him that the share unit was showing as such in their pool.

Later, after he had followed up for a week with the broker’s customer service, the share unit was credited to his demat account. But he still did not get any satisfactory explanation for the anomaly.

We contacted CDSL but did not get any response to our email query as of yet.

That said, this may not be a frequent occurrence. Some investors could face similar issues because of the trade settlement rules, which allow a lag of a day or two before the units are reflected in a user’s demat account.

"Typically, brokers have to transfer the client’s securities on the same day as the payout is made through the demat account. However, if the securities received in the demat account are not fully paid for by the client, the broker is required to park them in the Client Unpaid Securities Account (CUSA)," according to Sandip Raichura, CEO of retail broking & distribution at Prabhudas Lilladher.

So, as an investor, you must keep a tab on your investments to ensure you don’t lose out, even when there is an apparent glitch.

"As an investor, we should always crosscheck with the centralised depository. If the broking firm gives any excuse for non-reflection of a transaction, we should immediately contact the depository service provider. I would suggest that investors always make an informed and educated investment decision and keep a regular track of their investment portfolio, "said Dewin P Kothari, a Sebi-approved certified personal financial advisor.

For this, one can check his/her trading account and statements regularly. Most accounts are with the Central Depository Services (CDSL) or the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). They store and maintain records of investments with the help of several depository participants (DP) and registrar and transfer agents (RTA).

Here are four places that can help you keep tabs on your share transactions.

1. CDSL: If you have an active demat account with CDSL, then you can log in to-https://web.cdslindia.com/myeasi/home/login by registering for it using your Beneficiary Owner Identification Number (BO ID). You can find out your BO ID easily by looking it up in your broker’s demat statement, the CDSL welcome kit, the broker’s interface, or the broker’s back office. Alternatively, you can ask your broker about your BO ID number. It is a 16-digit number that is unique to your CDSL demat account.

2. NSDL: If you have an active demat account with NSDL, then you can log in to NSDL’s Internet Based Demat Account Statement (IDeAS). Here is the link. You can register for it using your NSDL BO ID, which starts with IN and is then followed by a 14-digit numeric code. If you do not know your NSDL BO ID, follow the steps mentioned above. After successfully registering for this service, you can view all the holdings in your NSDL demat account and then crosscheck them with your broker’s demat interface.

3. Consolidated Account Statement (CAS): Every month, either the CDSL or NSDL sends investors a statement called the "CAS," which contains the details of their investments and mutual funds. You can also request a physical statement and a soft copy via email once a month for free. You can also get your CAS statements from the website of CAMS. Here is the link. Use this statement to crosscheck and verify all your investments made in various investment apps. For accurate information on demat account holdings, one can follow the NSDL and CDSL procedures as outlined above.

According to a statement by CAMS, the consolidated account statement is an on-demand statement that provides a single view of the portfolio, fetching data on the fly across all mutual funds. The innovative features of this pioneering initiative include family portfolio wrap view if the same email id is provided in all the folios held by the family members, and a consolidated portfolio view on the basis of the net asset value (NAV) of any date as far back as the date of opening the account.

4. SMS/EMAIL: Every time you conduct a demat account or investment account transaction, an intimation alert SMS or email comes into your inbox. You should always check for small details like quantity or amount of purchase/sale, name, demat information, and other information, and then crosscheck it for further reference.

As of February 28, 2022, CDSL and NSDL had 60,762,732 and 26,069,206 active demat accounts, respectively.