Delivery mechanisms regulated to mandate tendering, allocation, settlement timelines and penalties for delivery defaults in commodity futures.
Exchanges must operate staggered delivery with a tender period, permit marking of delivery intentions, allocate delivery by random methodology with preference to signalled buyers, and complete pay-in/pay-out within prescribed working days. Open positions at expiry become compulsory delivery settled at the Final Settlement Price. Early delivery and early pay-in mechanisms allow matching and deposit of certified goods with settlement timelines; delivery defaults incur penalties combining a percentage of settlement price and replacement cost, with specified apportionment and disciplinary measures. FSP is determined by averaging available polled spot prices per a fallback hierarchy, and exchanges may advance expiry if the physical market is closed.

Consolidated Account Statement disclosure requires scheme cost, gross distributor commission and average expense ratio in half yearly statements.
Consolidated Account Statement requirements now mandate that each CAS disclose the total purchase value/cost of investment for each scheme, and that half yearly CAS additionally disclose the gross commission paid by AMCs/Mutual Funds to distributors in absolute terms and the scheme's average Total Expense Ratio for the applicable plan(s). Commission includes direct monetary payments and non monetary benefits and must be shown as gross, without netting distributor costs. These half yearly CAS disclosures apply to investors except those with no holdings and where no commission was paid during the period, with an indicative format provided.

Permission for trading in futures contracts allows exchanges to approve and modify specifications subject to prior notice, regulator oversight.
Exchanges must submit proposals for new or renewed futures contracts with complete check list information; continuous trading approvals are conditional on compliance with exchange rules, fixed contract specifications and launch calendars, open position and price fluctuation limits, daily mark to market settlement, delivery procedures, and prevention of speculative cornering. Certain specification parameters may be modified at exchange level (e.g., ticker, trading unit, tick size, delivery centres, quality tolerances) provided exchanges give prior notice and reasons to market participants and the regulator; substantive changes or re launches require prior SEBI approval.

Settlement Guarantee Fund norms maintained where unmodified, with exchanges required to notify members and publish continued provisions.
Settlement Guarantee Fund requirements, stress testing procedures for SGF adequacy, and Base Minimum Capital norms previously prescribed for national commodity derivatives exchanges continue in force to the extent not modified by subsequent regulatory amendments; recent changes removing the annual cap on exchange contributions to SGF and revising BMC for members supersede inconsistent legacy provisions. Exchanges must notify members and disseminate the continued provisions on their websites.

Unique Client Code requirement makes PAN the mandatory identifier for commodity derivatives trading, with penalties for noncompliance.
Mandatory implementation of a Unique Client Code (UCC) requires members of commodity derivatives exchanges to collect, verify and upload clients' Permanent Account Number (PAN) as the sole identification for trading, subject to specified exemptions. Members must verify PAN with originals and the Income Tax Department database, retain copies, update client particulars monthly within seven working days of the following month, and exchanges must maintain a seven year historical database. Noncompliance attracts a trade penalty transferred to the Investor Protection Fund and potential member suspension for delayed uploads.

Transmission of securities procedures standardized; exchanges and depositories must amend rules and comply within the prescribed period.
The circular mandates amendment of prior transmission guidance and directs stock exchanges and depositories to update listing agreements, byelaws and rules to implement simplified transmission procedures. Annexure A sets documentary requirements for physical securities transmission: nominee transmission requires a signed request, attested death certificate and PAN (with limited substitution); transmission without a nominee requires an affidavit of legal heirs and, depending on holding value, either succession documentation or specified alternatives such as NOC(s) and an indemnity bond.

Mutual funds: SEBI master circular consolidates filing, disclosure, governance, valuation, risk management and investor protection rules.
SEBI's Master Circular (as at Sept 14, 2016) consolidates mutual fund regulation: SIDs/SAIs and KIM formats, filing and update procedures, timelines and SEBI observation validity; governance rules including independent trustees, audit/valuation committees and systems audits; mandatory disclosures and reporting (monthly portfolios, half yearly financials, trustee reports, remuneration, distributor commission); operational rules on NFO periods, direct plans, single plan expense structures, minimum AUM and investor concentration limits; constrained conditions and procedures for imposing restriction on redemption; and standardised valuation, NAV publication and risk management/stress testing requirements.

Restrictions on promoters' share transfers and directorships after compulsory delisting until exit offers are provided to public shareholders.
Where the fair value is positive, promoters' equity shares and corporate benefits shall be frozen and transfers (sale, pledge, etc.) blocked until promoters provide the exit option to public shareholders as certified by the recognised stock exchange; promoters and whole time directors are barred from serving as directors of any listed company until that exit option is effected, with exchanges and depositories coordinating compliance and SEBI empowered to take enforcement action for non compliance.

Margin collection compliance: penalties for members failing to collect client margins within prescribed timelines and reporting requirements.
Requires members to collect specified margins (including initial, ELM, mark to market, special/additional and delivery margins), with initial margins payable upfront and other margins collectible within T+2 working days; members must report short collection/non collection to the Exchange on T+5. A graduated per day penalty applies per client shortfall, higher rates for larger shortfalls, with penalties for initial margin shortfalls applying from T. Repeated defaults (three or more instances in a month) invoke a 5% shortfall penalty from the fourth instance. Exchanges collect penalties monthly, credit proceeds to the Investor Protection Fund, inspect compliance and may levy up to 100% penalty for incorrect reporting.

Due Date Rate fixation requires committee-led spot price polling, audio recording and Board approval with preservation and reporting obligations.
Regional Commodity Derivatives Exchanges must fix the Due Date Rate through a board-level DDR Committee (majority non-trading members) that establishes a 15-member Spot Price Polling Panel from upcountry entities. Spot prices are polled by telephone with speaker on, recorded and retained for six months; polling occurs once daily during peak hours and the average of the last three days' available spot prices (not earlier than seven days before due date) is used. The Committee recommends DDR to the Board, which must approve or record reasons for modification; DDR is announced and records sent to the regulator.

Daily Price Limits for commodity derivatives use staged relaxations and VWAP-derived first-day base pricing.
Daily Price Limits for non-agricultural commodity derivatives are set in tiered slabs with category-specific initial and enhanced slabs; steel has a two-slab structure with a cooling-off-triggered enhancement, while gold and other non-agricultural commodities use a three-slab mechanism with an immediate first enhancement and a cooling-off-triggered second enhancement. Exchanges may relax limits further if international reference markets move beyond the aggregate DPL but must notify surveillance with justification. For a contract's first trading day the base price for DPL is derived from VWAP of opening trades and governs the day's limits; exchanges may prescribe narrower limits and must update rules, disseminate changes, and report implementation to the regulator.

Transaction charges regulation caps differential and mandates post-facto, incremental slab charging to ensure fair, non-discriminatory markets.
Exchanges may levy varying transaction charges across commodities and contracts provided the highest-to-lowest charge within any turnover slab does not exceed 1.5:1; concessional slab rates apply only to incremental turnover and charges must be levied on a post-facto basis. Revisions must preserve system capacity and risk management, avoid selective treatment, artificial demand or market irregularities, and be applied uniformly, fairly and transparently. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, notify members, disseminate on websites and report implementation to the regulator.

Spot Price Polling Mechanism requires exchanges to publish polling methods and daily participant prices with oversight.
SEBI requires commodity derivatives exchanges to have a documented spot price polling policy, display the polling mechanism and contract-specific details online, and disclose whether polling is outsourced. Exchanges must publish coded participant details (location, profession, quoted price, timestamp) daily and retain records for three years post-expiry. They must increase sample size during the last 15 days, review participants monthly to identify and discipline unrealistic pollers, provide a feedback window with audit trail and time bound redressal, amend bylaws, notify brokers, and report implementation to SEBI.

Risk management norms mandate stronger margining, uncapped fund contributions and a structured default waterfall to limit market risk.
Strengthened risk management norms require exchanges to set Initial Margins based on an estimated Margin Period of Risk (MPOR) with a minimum of two days and to scale margins by liquidity; increase delivery period margins and withdraw spread-margin benefits before tender or a specified pre-expiry day. Exchanges must apply graduated measures for repeated margin/pay-in shortfalls, impose concentration margins for concentrated positions, use a ranked set of liquidation tools to regain a matched book, differentiate base minimum capital for clearing members by trade type, remove the cap on SGF contributions so exchanges meet quarterly assessed shortfalls in full, and follow a prescribed default waterfall until clearing transfers to clearing corporations.

Price dissemination via electronic channels mandated for commodity derivatives; exchanges must register subscribers and provide free daily service.
SEBI requires commodity derivatives exchanges to register subscribers and disseminate daily derivatives prices free of charge via SMS or other electronic communication facilities. Exchanges may reimburse dissemination expenses from interest on the Investor Protection Fund. The circular supersedes earlier directives on SMS price dissemination and mandates amendments to bye laws, notice to brokers, website publication, and communication of implementation status to SEBI under its investor protection and market development powers.

Trading Hours on commodity derivatives standardized; exchanges must set hours within prescribed limits and adopt common holidays.
SEBI prescribes that commodity derivatives exchanges permit trading Monday through Friday, fix trading hours within prescribed limits for distinct commodity categories with adjustments for international daylight saving, coordinate Muhurat Trading timing, maintain commensurate risk management and infrastructure for trading hours, and determine and notify trading holiday lists (jointly for national exchanges, individually for regional exchanges) within the Negotiable Instruments Act framework; national exchanges may permit evening trading of internationally referencable commodities on trading holidays when international markets are open.

Record preservation requirements: commodity exchanges must adopt securities market retention norms and report implementation to the regulator.
Commodity derivatives exchanges and their members are required to comply with existing securities market recordkeeping norms, including the record retention obligations under the Securities Contract (Regulation) Rules and Broker Regulations. Prior SEBI preservation norms are made applicable to commodity markets; exchanges must amend bye laws, inform and disseminate requirements to members, report implementation to the regulator, and publish the circular, ensuring adherence to the record preservation regime from the stated effective date.

Client code modification rules clarified: strict criteria, monitoring, penalties and limited waivers apply to broker conduct.
Permits modification of client codes for non institutional trades only to rectify genuine entry errors-defined as communication/punching/typing mistakes with similar original and corrected codes or modifications among defined relatives. Trades shifted to a broker's Error account are not treated as code modifications if liquidated in the market and not moved to other codes; brokers must disclose error account codes, maintain an approved error policy, and exchanges will monitor flows. Exchanges allowing modifications must set Board approved objective criteria, monitor compliance, include modifications in internal audits, prohibit conversion between proprietary and client trades, levy penalties credited to the Investor Protection Fund, and may grant limited waivers with quarterly reporting to SEBI.

Exchange neutrality: exchanges must not sponsor media programmes discussing price outlook or trading recommendations and must bar staff participation.
Exchanges must preserve neutrality by not sponsoring or associating with media programmes, seminars, workshops or similar fora that discuss price behaviour, price outlook, trading strategy, buy/sell recommendations or other topics relating to commodity derivatives, and must prevent staff participation by adopting a suitable code of conduct, amending bye-laws, disseminating the provisions to brokers and reporting implementation to the regulator.

Hedge position limits: exchanges must adopt hedge policies granting non transferable limits tied to verified underlying exposures.
Exchanges must adopt and publicise a Hedge Policy granting incremental, non transferable hedge limits to bona fide hedgers after case by case assessment of underlying physical market exposure. Hedge limits require documentary verification (e.g., bank certificates, warehouse receipts), are not available for near month contracts once near month limits apply, and across exchanges must not exceed actual or anticipated physical exposure. Non compliance can attract expulsion, trading prohibition or other penalties; approved limits are time bound and hedgers must retain records for at least three years.