Depositories Act

The Depositories Act, 1996
Parliament of India
Long title An Act to provide for regulation of depositories in securities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Citation	Act No. 22 of 1996
Territorial extent	India
Passed by	Lok Sabha
Passed	16 July 1996
Passed by	Rajya Sabha
Passed	23 July 1996
Assented to by	President
Assented to	10 August 1996
Effective	20 September 1995
Legislative history
First chamber: Lok Sabha
Bill title	Depositories Bill, 1996
Introduced	11 July 1996
Passed	16 July 1996
Second chamber: Rajya Sabha
Passed	23 July 1996
Repeals
The Depositories (Third) Ordinance, 1996
Amended by
Depositories Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 1997 Securities Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 1999 Repealing and Amending Act, 2001 Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2004 Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014 Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 2016 Finance Act, 2017 Finance Act, 2018 International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019
Related legislation
Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 Income-tax Act, 1961
Status: In force (amended)

The Depositories Act,1996 (Act No. 22 of 1996) ^[1] is an act of the Parliament of India. It provides the legal framework for the regulation of depositories in India, which hold securities in dematerialized (electronic) form, and for matters related to them. ^[2]

It aims to simplify securities ownership transfer, reduce paperwork, and enhance transparency and investor trust in the securities market.

Amendments

It is amended by various acts over the years, which includes the following:

Amending Act	Amendment
Depositories Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 1997	substituted sub-section 2 of sec. 9
Securities Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 1999	definition for “Securities Appellate Tribunal”, amendment in sec. 23, inserted sec. 23A
Repealing and Amending Act, 2001	Rep. sec. 30 and sched.
Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2004
Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014
Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Act, 2016 [3]
Finance Act, 2017
Finance Act, 2018
International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019

References

1. "The Depositories Act, 1996". www.indiacode.nic.in. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
2. Samal, Manohar (26 April 2020). "A guide to the Depositories Act, 1996". www.asianlaws.org. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
3. "Lok Sabha passes bill to fast track debt recovery", The Economic Times , 2 August 2016