With this, all investors except Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) will be eligible to apply for public & rights issues using ASBA facility.  ASBA is a new mode of payment in public and rights issues introduced by Sebi, wherein the application money remains blocked in the bank account till allotment.

All intermediaries like BSE, NSE, Registrars and Self Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSBs) have already been advised to undertake the necessary modifications in their system and certify to Sebi about their readiness by December 25, 2009.It may be noted HNIs and Corporate investors were categorised under ASBA Phase II, while retail investors were slotted under ASBA Phase I.

Earlier, Sebi had placed restrictions placed on ASBA Phase I where only retail investors could apply and that too only at cut-off.  Besides, there shall be not more than one bid, that bids cannot be revised etc. With the latest move, there will be no difference between the two categories. And ASBA Phase II shall be made applicable to all the issues opening on or after January 1, 2010. It may also be noted that after January 1, 2010, electronic interface provided by BSE and NSE will not be able to accept any application from the SCSBs (self certified syndicate banks) who have failed to modify the system for ASBA Phase II.