Rs 55 crore and counting: Sebi's expense bill to Sahara

Market regulator Sebi has incurred initial costs of more than Rs 55 crore (Rs 550 million) in its humongous task of facilitating Rs 24,000-crore (Rs 240 billion) refund to bondholders of two Sahara firms after verifying their credentials and Saharas would have to clear all these bills.

The final expense bill of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in this high-profile case could be much higher, as just two contracts -- for storage and scanning of investor documents and for providing a platform to facilitate redemption related services -- have cost it Rs 55.85

crore.

Sebi is verifying the credentials of more than three crore investors for the refund as per a direction from the Supreme Court, which has also ruled that Saharas would have to pay all the expenses borne by the regulator in this matter.