In India, stocks and securities are held electronically in a dematerialized account (or Demat) (/ dimæt /, rather than the investor taking physical possession of certificates. A Demat account is opened by the investor while registering with an investment broker (or sub-broker). The dematerialized account number is quoted for all transactions to allow the electronic settlement of transactions. Each shareholder will have a dematerialized account in order to
Access to the dematerialized account requires an Internet password and a transaction password. Transfer or purchase of securities can then commence. Purchases and sales of securities in the dematerialized account are made automatically once transactions are confirmed and completed.
Demat account of shares and securities for commercial purposes
The benefits of demat are as follows:
• Easy and convenient way of maintaining values
• Immediate transfer of securities
• No stamp duty on the transfer of securities
• More secure than papers (previous risks associated with physical certificates such as poor delivery, false values, delays, theft, etc. are mostly eliminated)
• Reduction of paperwork for the transfer of securities
• Reduced transaction cost
• There is no "odd lot" problem: even an action can be sold
• The change in registered address with a Depositary Participant (DP) is registered with all companies in which the investor holds securities, eliminating the need to correspond with each of them separately.
• The transfer of securities is done by DP, eliminating the need to notify companies.
• Automatic credit in demat account for shares arising from bonus / split, consolidation / merger, etc.
• A single demat account may have investments in both equity and debt instruments.
• Operators can work from anywhere (for example, even from home).