Sebi sets Sept 30 deadline to apply for Sahara refund

MUMBAI, Aug 24 (Business Standard): The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked investors in Sahara's collective investment scheme to apply for their refunds by September 30.

A half-page newspaper advertisement said that claims after the deadline would not be entertained.

"Claims recieved after September 30, 2014 shall be returned to the applicant at his/her sole risk and responsibility," it said.

A request for comment to a Sebi spokesperson did not immediately receive a reply.

The regulator has asked investors to provide proof of identity, proof of address and bank account details in addition to details of the investment they made. Their application should include the name of the company, the name of the scheme and the account number, said the advertisement.

Two Sahara group companies, Sahara India Real Estate Corporate and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, had raised about Rs 240 billions from investors.

The stock market regulator had found that the fund raising was done in violation of existing rules. It passed an order asking Sahara to stop fund raising activities in November 2010.

The legal battle that followed went all the way to the Supreme Court. The apex court endorsed Sebi's view and asked Sahara to refund the amount to its 30 million investors by giving the money to Sebi, who is to carry out the refund process.

Sahara put up Rs 51.20 billion and said this is twice the amount remaining to be refunded. It claimed that only Rs 26.10 billion remained to be refunded, and that it had already direcly refunded investors the remainder of over Rs 200 billion.