E-voting lapses under Sebi lens

SBI's extraordinary general meeting tomorrow is the latest case where the facility has not been allowed for shareholders, despite last year's circular

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is taking a close look at complaints about the irregularities in implementation of the e-voting facility, made mandatory in April last year.

The regulator's concern arises from several recent instances of the facility not being offered by large companies, according to officials in the know.

Though most large companies have been offering this electronic facility for their annual general meetings, lapses are being increasingly seen in supplementary meetings such as extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) and meetings called to approve restructuring and merger schemes sanctioned by courts.

The latest on the list is State Bank of India (SBI). Its EGM, scheduled for Tuesday, does not offer the facility to investors.SBI has called the meeting to approve a preferential issue of shares. This is the second time in a month the country's largest bank has called for a shareholders' meet without the e-voting provision. An EGM on February 26 also did not provide e-voting; only 638 of its 1.1 million shareholders participated.

SBI's associate entity, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, also conducted an EGM in February without providing an e-voting facility. Only 92 of its 60,190 shareholders attended. An email sent by Business Standard to the group compliance officer at SBI, with a copy marked to the chairman and managing director, did not elicit a response.

Last month, this newspaper had reported how Jaiprakash Power Ventures did not provide the facility for its proposal to approve a restructuring process approved by a court. The management's proposals sailed through, with only 174 of the 332,000 public shareholders (0.05 per cent) attending.

NTPC's meet in February is another recent instance of shareholder meets to clear court-approved schemes for restructuring skipping the e-voting requirement. Only 659 of the 717,121 NTPC shareholders attended.

Source - Business Standard

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