Regulatory fee computation for multiple stock broker registrations upheld as valid under the securities law framework.

A regulatory circular requiring separate registration fee for each SEBI registration held by a stock broker was upheld as intra vires the governing regulations. The court construed the SEBI Act, the Stock Brokers and Sub-Brokers Rules, and the registration and fee provisions to permit registration-linked supervision for each stock exchange membership and to allow the regulator to prescribe the mode of fee computation. The earlier Supreme Court ruling recognising annual turnover as only a measure of levy was treated as decisive. On that basis, the challenge to treating multiple registrations as fee-bearing units failed, and the clarification on fee liability was sustained.

---

---

Issues: Whether the circular requiring separate registration fee for each SEBI registration held by a stock broker was intra vires the regulations and could validly prescribe the mode and manner of fee computation.

Analysis: The challenged circular was examined in the context of the SEBI Act, the Stock Brokers and Sub-Brokers Rules, and the Regulations governing registration and fee payment. The scheme of the Regulations, including the provisions for application, grant of certificate, suspension for non-payment, and fee computation under Schedule III, was construed as permitting registration-linked supervision for each stock exchange membership and not as confining the broker to only one registration. The earlier Supreme Court decision upholding the regulatory fee and recognising that annual turnover was only a measure of levy was treated as decisive. On that basis, the respondent's power to regulate the securities market and to determine the method of quantification of the fee was held to include the impugned clarification.

Conclusion: The circular was held to be intra vires the Regulations, and the challenge to separate fee for multiple registrations failed.

Final Conclusion: The petition was rejected, and the respondent's clarification on fee liability for multiple SEBI registrations was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statutory scheme authorises a regulatory fee for supervision of securities market intermediaries, the authority may validly prescribe the method of quantification and treat separate registrations as fee-bearing units, provided the measure remains within the regulatory framework.

---