The Depositories Act, 1996

The Depositories Act, 1996 is an act passed by the Parliament of India that regulates the functioning of depositories in India. The act provides for the establishment of depositories in India and for the transfer of securities in a dematerialized form. It aims to promote trading in securities by enabling the holding of securities in electronic form and providing for their transfer by means of electronic book entries. The act also sets out the rights and obligations of the depositories, the issuers, and the investors. The act is applicable to all securities held in dematerialized form and has been instrumental in the growth of the Indian securities market.