DDPI, short for Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction, is a formal authorisation mechanism introduced by SEBI to regulate the movement of securities from an investor’s demat account. It replaces the earlier Power of Attorney (PoA) arrangement that gave brokers wider discretionary powers, which, in some cases, led to misuse or unauthorised actions.
Under the DDPI system, investors can give limited consent to their broker or depository participant (DP) to perform specific tasks, such as:
- Selling shares from the demat account/settle payin obligation
- Pledging securities for margin or loan purposes
- Executing mutual fund transactions
- Tendering shares in buybacks or open offers