Initially, stocks and shares used to be exchanged via physical receipts called certificates. However, this resulted in lengthy paperwork and took up a lot of time. To counter this and to take advantage of an electronic trading platform which was gaining traction in West and the Asian Markets, the process of dematerialisation (demat) of shares was initiated in 1996. Physical share certificates were converted into electronic form securities of equivalent number and price and were credited to the investor’s demat account. Thus, the advent of trading commenced this way.
In a more simplistic approach, demat accounts allow the investor to buy and sell as well as transact not only shares and stocks but other products conveniently without the need of any sort of paperwork.
Such accounts are of crucial importance today because, the entire financial platform of investing, trading and maintaining have become digitised. Hence, to enable the user with a seamless and straightforward experience, demat accounts are the necessity of the day. These accounts are essential to trade in India’s stock exchanges. Although SEBI – Securities and Exchange Board of India, has permitted traded up to 500 shares to be settled in the physical form, it is not a preferable option these days since it causes excessive inconvenience of maintenance and tracking.