The April 6 move to allow demat shares to be delivered in the physical segment has led to Rs 350 crore worth of demat shares being delivered in the physical segment, which is more than the Rs 311 crore traded volume at the demat segments of both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE). This proves that the April 6 measure has proved to be a success and has provided holders of demat shares an effective exit mechanism considering the low liquidity levels in the demat segments.

Meanwhile, the value of shares dematerialised so far, has topped the $ 7 billion mark (Rs 28,700 crore) and the number of shares dematerialised stand at 1.82 billion shares (182 crore shares).The number of accounts opened has risen to 17,000. About 1,500 new accounts are being opened every week an indication of the acceptance of the depository system.

Figures collated by the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) reveal that out of the total traded volume of Rs 661 crore in demat shares for the month of April, Rs 588 crore worth of shares were delivered. In percentage terms, this works out to about 88.95 per cent. In the physical market, the delivery percentage works out to be between 10-20 per cent depending from exchange to exchange.

The volume of demat shares traded in the month of April is 85 per cent more than that traded during March. The traded volumes in demat shares have increased from a mere Rs 50 crore in January. In February, the total traded volumes were Rs 169 crore, in March Rs 357 crore and April Rs 661 crore. The delivery volumes have increased from Rs 103 crore in February (60.94 per cent), Rs 229 crore in March (64.14 per cent) to Rs 588 crore in April (88.95 percent).

"Even though the high delivery volumes can be attributed to the fact that the bulk of the volumes in the demat segment have been accounted for by institutions, there is no doubt that a number of investors are moving towards taking delivery, as their risk in doing so is eliminated in a paperless form," said a depository source.

"The delivery volumes are only going to surge in June when another 22 scrips are added to the list of 8 securities where institutions are required to trade only in demat shares," added the source.