Book Entry Securities

Book entry securities are financial instruments — equities, bonds, government securities, and other assets — whose ownership is recorded electronically in a centralised digital registry rather than through the physical issuance of paper certificates. The holder's ownership is evidenced solely by electronic records maintained by the depository system — in India, NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) and CDSL (Central Depository Services Limited) serve as the two depositories that maintain book entry records for all dematerialised securities held in Demat accounts. The shift to book entry from physical certificates was mandated by SEBI through progressive dematerialisation requirements beginning in 1996 — driven by the significant risks, costs, and inefficiencies of physical share certificates including forgery, loss, theft, bad delivery, and slow transfer processes. Book entry eliminates these risks entirely — securities transfer is instantaneous, forgery is impossible, and ownership records are backed by depository guarantee. All Government of India securities (G-Secs, T-Bills, SDLs) are issued and settled exclusively in book entry form through the RBI's e-Kuber platform and NDS-OM system. For Indian retail investors, all equity shares in their Demat accounts are book entry securities — the Demat statement from NSDL or CDSL is the authoritative record of ownership, not any physical document.