The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed commodity exchanges and clearing corporations to maintain twice the installed capacity of the projected peak load for critical IT systems, half of the current four time load.
As per existing guidelines dated 2016, commodity exchanges are required to maintain a trading system capacity of at least four times the peak load. However, there was no clarity about clearing corporations and the rule applied to only exchanges.
The proposal follows feedback from exchanges and observations by Sebi’s technical advisory committee, which flagged significant underuse of existing IT infrastructure.
The draft rules include forward-looking capacity planning, quarterly stress testing, and real-time automated alert systems. If utilisation crosses 75 percent of installed capacity, immediate corrective action should be taken by stock exchanges and clearing corporations.
The projected peak load must be based on 180-day trends and 60-day forecasts, though shorter durations can be adopted with board approval. All hardware, software, and vendor systems will be included under the new framework.
Entities must also maintain asset registers and get utilisation thresholds approved by their Standing Committee on Technology (SCOT) and governing board.
The regulator has sought public comments by July 20. Once finalised, implementation policies must be board-approved and submitted by exchanges and CCs within three months.
Published on June 30, 2025