Commodity broking firms are still finding it difficult to get their employees to reach office and ensure smooth operations as many state governments have not yet categoriesed commodity and stock broking services as essential services.
Despite repeated requests, the government and capital market regulator have kept the markets open, putting at risk the lives of a large number of employees.
Market regulator SEBI issued a notification last night exempting about 16 ancillary services from the lockdown to ensure the market operates smoothly.
Narinder Wadhwa, President, Commodity Participants Association of India, said though the government has decided that capital and commodities markets will remain open, brokerage companies and their staff are facing great difficulty in reaching their offices as police were not allowing any movement on Wednesday. Moreover, the workforce engaged in these services is travelling and coming in frequent contact with their clients and other people, he said.
These are exceptional and unprecedented circumstances. The regulators need to take into consideration the safety of the people engaged in these services and their families and take bold steps to at least curtail the market hours, he added.
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