Delivery Notice

A delivery notice is a formal notification issued by the seller of a commodity or financial futures contract to the relevant exchange or clearing corporation, declaring the intention to make physical delivery of the underlying commodity or asset against an open short futures position upon contract expiry. The delivery notice initiates the physical settlement process — triggering the matching of the delivery notice with an open long position holder who is obligated to accept delivery and pay the full contract value. In Indian commodity markets on MCX and NCDEX, delivery notices are a critical part of the expiry mechanism for contracts where physical delivery is mandated — such as gold, silver, crude oil, and agricultural commodities. The delivery notice specifies the commodity grade, quantity, delivery location (accredited warehouse or vault), and the delivery period. For equity derivatives on NSE, the shift to physical settlement for stock futures and options introduced in 2019 by SEBI made delivery notices relevant for Indian stock derivatives as well — F&O positions left open at expiry result in delivery obligations for both the buyer and seller of in-the-money contracts.