Gazette Tracker
Gazette Tracker

Core Purpose

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024, amending the SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 on distribution timelines, voting thresholds and electronic records requirements.

Detailed Summary

The Securities and Exchange Board of India, in Notification No. SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2024/208 dated 26th September 2024, made the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024, under section 30 read with sections 11 and 12 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), further amending the SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014; key changes include: in regulation 18(16)(c), the distribution payment deadline is changed from "not later than fifteen days from the date of declaration" to "within five working days from the record date", with the record date defined as two working days from declaration (also applied to regulation 26ZK(1)(d)); in regulation 22(2), (4), (5) and (6) and regulation 26ZM(7), (9) and (10), the voting threshold basis is changed from "votes cast against" to "total votes cast for" a resolution, and a new clause specifies that voting thresholds are calculated on unit holders present and voting (including electronic and postal ballot votes); regulation 22(2)(c) permits shorter meeting notice with consent of 95% of unit holders entitled to vote (annual meetings) or 95% by value plus majority in number (other meetings); a new clause requires managers/investment managers to provide video conferencing and remote e-voting options for unit holder meetings; new sub-regulations (4) and (5) are inserted in regulation 26 requiring managers and trustees to maintain adequate backup systems, data storage capacity and secure data handling arrangements, and to maintain a business continuity plan and disaster recovery site for electronically maintained records; the regulations take effect on publication, except regulation 3(1) which takes effect on the sixtieth day thereafter; the notification, issued under ADVT.-III/4/Exty./529/2024-25, was signed by Babitha Rayudu, Executive Director, and lists eighteen prior amendments to the 2014 Regulations dating from 2016 to July 2024.

Full Text

EXTRAORDINARY PART III—Section 4 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 758] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY , SEPTEMBER 27, 2024 /ASVINA 5 , 194 6 CG-MH-E-28092024-257585 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA NOTIFICATION Mumbai , the 26th September, 2024 (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024 No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2024/208 .—In exercise of the powers conferred under section 30 read with sections 11 and 12 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992), the Board hereby makes the following regulations to further amend the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, namely: – 1. These regulations may be called the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2024. 2. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette: Provided that sub -regulation (1) of regulation 3 of these regulations shall come into force on the sixtieth day from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. 3. In the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, ─ (1) in regulation 18, (a) in sub -regulation (16), (i) in clause (c), A. the words “and made” shall be omitted; B. the words “not later than fifteen days from the date of such declaration” shall be substituted with the words “within five working days from the record date”; C. the following shall be inserted as an explanation to clause (c), namely, - “Explanation. — For the purpose of above clause, record date for the payment of distribution shall be two working days from the date of the declaration of distribution, excluding the date of declaration and the record date.” (ii) in clause (e) the words “fifteen days of declaration” shall be substituted with the words “the timeline specified in clause (c) of sub -regulation 16”. (2) in regulation 22, (a) in sub -regulation (2), (i) in clause (a), the words “votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “total votes cast”; (ii) after clause (a), the following clause shall be inserted, namely, - “(aa) the voting threshold specified under these regulations shall be calculated on the basis of unit holders present and voting. Explanation. — The unit holders voting through the electronic voting facility and postal ballot shall be counted for the determination of unit holders present and voting;” (iii) in clause (c), the symbol “;” shall be substituted with symbol “:” and the following shall be inserted as proviso to clause (c), namely, - “Provided that a meeting of unit holders may be called after giving shorter notice than that specified in this clause if consent, in writing or by electronic mode, is accorded thereto - i. in case of an annual meeting, by not less than ninety -five percent of the unit holders entitled to vote thereat; and ii. in case of any other meeting, by majority of the unitholders in number entitled to vote thereat and who represent not less than ninety -five percent of such part of the units by value as gives a right to vote at the meeting.” (iv) after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely, - “(f) for all unit holder meetings, the manager shall provide an option to the unit holders to attend the meeting through video conferencing or other audio visual means and the option of remote electronic voting in the manner as may be specified by the Boar d.” (b) in sub-regulation (4), in clause (b), the words “the votes cast against the resolution” shall be substituted with the words “fifty per cent of the total votes cast for the resolution unless otherwise specified under these regulations.”; (c) in sub -regulation (5), the words “the votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “fifty per cent of the total votes cast for”; (d) in sub -regulation (6), the words “not less than one and half times the votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “at least sixty per cent of total votes cast for”. (3) in regulation 26, (a) in sub -regulation (3) the words “sub -regulation (1) and” shall be inserted between the words “The records specified in” and the words “sub -regulation (2) may be maintained”; (b) after sub -regulation (3), the following sub -regulations shall be inserted, namely, - “(4) The manager and the trustee shall ensure that adequate backup systems, data storage capacity, system capacity for secure handling, data transfer and arrangements for alternative means of communication in case of internet link failure, are maintained f or the records maintained electronically. (5) The manager and trustee shall ensure that a business continuity plan and disaster recovery site is in place for the records maintained electronically, to maintain data and transaction integrity.” (4) in regulation 26ZK, in sub-regulation (1) in clause (d) the words “seven working days of such declaration” shall be substituted with the words “five working days from the record date” and the following shall be inserted as an explanation to clause (d), namely, - “Explanation. — For the purpose of above clause, record date for the payment of distribution shall be the date which is two working days from the date of the declaration of distribution (excluding the date of declaration and the record date).” (5) in regulation 26ZM, (a) in sub -regulation (2), (i) after clause (a) the following shall be inserted, namely, - “(aa) the voting threshold specified under these regulations shall be calculated on the basis of unit holders present and voting. Explanation . — The unit holders voting through the electronic voting facility and postal ballot shall be counted for the determination of unit holders present and voting;” (ii) in clause (e), the existing proviso shall be substituted with the following proviso, namely, - “Provided that a meeting of unit holders of each scheme may be called after giving shorter notice than that specified in this clause if consent, in writing or by electronic mode, is accorded thereto - i. in case of an annual meeting, by not less than ninety -five percent of the unit holders of the scheme entitled to vote thereat; and ii. in case of any other meeting, by majority of the unitholders of the scheme in number entitled to vote thereat and who represent not less than ninety -five percent of such part of the units of the scheme by value as gives a right to vote at the meeting.” (iii) after clause (g) the following clause shall be inserted, namely, - “(h) for all unit holder meetings, the investment manager shall provide an option to the unit holders to attend the meeting through video conferencing or other audio visual means and the option of remote electronic voting in the manner as may be specified by the Board.” (b) in sub -regulation (7) the words “the votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “fifty per cent of the total votes cast for”; (c) in sub -regulation (9), the words “the votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “fifty per cent of the total votes cast for”; (d) in sub -regulation (10), the words “not be less than one and a half times the votes cast against” shall be substituted with the words “be at least sixty per cent of the total votes cast for”. BABITHA RAYUDU , Executive Director [ADVT. -III/4/Exty./ 529/2024 -25] Footnotes: 1. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 was published in the Gazette of India on September 26, 2014 vide No. LAD -NRO/GN/2014/15/11/1576. 2. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 was subsequently amended by the – a. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2016, vide No. SEBI/LAD/NRO/GN/2016 -17/022, with effect from November 30, 2016. b. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Payment of Fees and Mode of Payment) (Amendment) Regulations, 2017, vide No. SEBI/LAD/NRO/GN/2016 -17/38, with effect from March 6, 2017. c. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2017, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2017 -18/022, with effect from December 15, 2017. d. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2018, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2018/06, with effect from April 10, 2018. e. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2019/09, with effect from April 22, 2019. f. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2020/06, with effect from March 02, 2020. g. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Regulatory Sandbox) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2020/10, with effect from April 17, 2020. h. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020, vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2020/16 with effect from June 16, 2020. i. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2021/28 with effect from July 30, 2021. j. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Regulatory Sandbox) (Amendment) Regulations, 2021 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2021/30 with effect from August 03, 2021. k. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2022/100 with effect from November 9, 2022. l. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 vide No. LAD -NRO/GN/2023/123 with effect from February 14, 2023. m. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 vide No. SEBI/LAD –NRO/GN/2023/137 with effect from July 4, 2023. n. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2023 vide No. LAD -NRO/GN/2023/144 with effect from August 16, 2023. o. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Facilitation of Grievance Redressal Mechanism) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2023/146 with effect from August 18, 2023. p. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2023 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2023/160 with effect from October 23, 2023. q. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2024/166 with effect from March 8, 2024. r. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Real Estate Investment Trusts) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2024 vide No. SEBI/LAD -NRO/GN/2024/193 with effect from July 13, 2024. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi -110054.

Never miss important gazettes

Create a free account to save gazettes, add notes, and get email alerts for keywords you care about.

Sign Up Free