Central Depository Services (India) Limited — Q3 FY26
CDSL reported consolidated Q3 FY26 revenue of INR 334 crore (+12% YoY) and standalone PAT of INR 133 crore (+2% YoY).
neutral
medium
✓ Verified against BSE filing
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
32%Questions answered7Evaded / deflected11Questions auditedMixedNumbers vs filing
Evasive
High priority
Why have technology costs grown 4x since FY23 while volumes only 1.82x?
Asked by Supratim Datta, Jefferies
Management gave a generic explanation without quantifying drivers or providing a breakdown of cost increases.
no specific breakdowngeneric explanationno commitment on future trajectory
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Question
Your technology cost have increased by around 4x over since FY 2023, whereas during the same period, volume increase has been somewhere around 1.82x. Just wanted to understand, if you could give us some color or understanding with respect to how you are seeing the technology spend...
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
As we grow in business, it's like... as we increase capacity, the costs have to grow to ensure that the latest technology is used. There are newer products also... we are trying to ensure that the latest products are put into play. And that's the capacity building process.
Evasive
High priority
Is the technology ramp-up mostly done or will it continue at this level?
Asked by Supratim Datta, Jefferies
CFO did not give a direct answer on whether the ramp-up is complete or will continue.
no clear yes/nodeferred to future innovations
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Question
Is the ramp up, or the scale of ramp up, mostly done, or should the scale of ramp up continue at this level?
Girish Amesara, CFO
As newer technology comes into play, there is, as we all know, very artificial intelligence also is coming into play. We would like to ensure that our infrastructure has the latest in sync technology... It depends on the kind of innovations, which are happening...
Partial answer
Medium priority
What is the exact number of folios and impact of unlisted company regulation change?
Asked by Amit Chandra, HDFC Securities
Provided folio count but declined to give forward view on unlisted additions.
folio number given but not updatedno outlook on unlisted additions
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Question
If you can give the number of folios, because you used to give, so what has been the exact number of folios... And also, it has also been helped by the unlisted companies addition. But seeing the change in regulation... how do you see the unlisted addition behaving?
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO; Girish Amesara, CFO
Amit, the folio remains what we had disclosed in first quarter. It is INR 33.76 crore. ...on the unlisted piece, again, it's not... we will have to wait and watch. We don't give a futuristic outlook...
Answered
Medium priority
Can you give breakup of e-voting and e-CAS income and explain cost decline?
Asked by Amit Chandra, HDFC Securities
CFO provided specific numbers for e-voting and e-CAS income and explained the YoY comparison.
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Question
If you can give the breakup of e-voting and e-CAS... And also, the drop that we have seen... And also, in YoY terms, also, the fall has been pretty sharp... And obviously, correspondingly to the decline in the e-voting, there used to be a decline in the other expenses...
Girish Amesara, CFO
The cash income that we have generated in this quarter is INR 12.78 crore. And e-voting income is at INR 5.23 crore... when you compare current quarter income with YoY income of previous quarter, previous year, same quarter, we had achieved income of INR 4.71 crore in that quarter.
Evasive
High priority
Can we expect an issuer price hike given rising costs?
Asked by Amit Chandra, HDFC Securities
Management refused to disclose any details about the price hike proposal or timeline.
no timelineno commitmentdeferred to regulator
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Question
Is it fair to assume that we can ask for an issuer price hike, which was pending, which is now pending for the last 10 years? And how the regulator is seeing to the proposal of having an issuer fees hike?
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
I think, really, Amit, as I have told earlier, we don't generally disclose the correspondence we have with regulator. But I am sure, they are also seeing this. Probably at the appropriate time, the increase will come.
Evasive
Low priority
How is the insurance repository business performing and what are projections?
Asked by Siddarth S, Vittae.Money
Management gave a qualitative update but no quantitative projections or revenue contribution.
no specific numbersno projections given
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Question
How is the insurance repository side of the business, and what is the projections going for in terms of the upcoming projects and the potential revenue contribution from that side of the business?
Latesh Shetty, MD and CEO, Centrico Insurance Repository
From the insurance repository point of view, the operating revenue has been steady. And as you typically see, JFM period is the crucial period, so we are trying to capitalize on this. And largely, we are in sync with the insurance industry growth.
Answered
Medium priority
How will the hike in security transaction charges impact CDSL revenue?
Asked by Shreya Kejriwal, Moneyvesta Capital
Management clearly stated no direct impact on CDSL's business.
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Question
Regarding the yesterday's news, regarding the hike in the security transaction charges. So could you share your views on how this might impact the CDSL revenue?
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
On the first one, there is no direct impact on the depository business. It's more on trading side. And as futures and options is not a security, which is normally kept in these accounts, demat accounts. So I don't see any perceived impact on CDSL line of business as of now.
Evasive
Medium priority
Do you foresee any changes in KYC charges due to TER cuts?
Asked by Lalit Deo, Equirus Securities
Management did not provide any view on potential changes, only said they would inform if changes occur.
no commitmentdeferred to future
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Question
There has been also talks about reducing the fixed cost for the AMCs, such as KYC charges... Do we foresee any changes in the revenue or any reference in the KYC charges for us in terms of the new creation cost...?
Sunil Alvares, MD and CEO, CDSL Ventures Ltd
No, in case, like, they just said that in case there is any reduction in charges, we will inform the market accordingly. So yes, we will all have to give it a note.
Evasive
Medium priority
Have you seen mass migration of DPs to other depositories?
Asked by Sanket Godha, Avendus Spark
Management did not confirm or deny migration, instead referred to public data.
no direct answerpointed to public data
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Question
At the NSDL DP level or a broker level, have you seen mass migration happening from your company to another company? Or you have got any intimation that the guys who were invariably working exclusive with you have even started considering to open from a risk management point of view...?
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
I think the number of demat accounts open in each month on month is disclosed across both the depositories... Finally, it is each DPs choice... And I think the numbers is something, which really speak for itself.
Answered
Medium priority
Do you expect any regulatory capping on KYC fetch income?
Asked by Sanket Godha, Avendus Spark
Management clearly stated current regulations and pricing structure.
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Question
Do you expect any big regulatory change to come in KYC business, especially from a revenue capping, or the charges capping, or the amount of fetches can be done for the same KYC record?
Sunil Alvares, MD and CEO, CDSL Ventures Ltd
So currently, there is no capping for the same KYC record, primarily because there are different intermediaries fetching that record, and they pay separately. So far as fetch is considered, an intermediary fetches the record only once, and we charge him INR 35 for the lifetime.
Evasive
Medium priority
Can you provide KPIs on success rate or capacity enabled by technology spend?
Asked by Rohal Nagpal, Helios Capital Management
Management did not provide any specific KPIs like success rate or capacity, only cited general growth.
no specific KPIs providedgeneric growth metrics
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Question
Just looking backwards in terms of what this is enable for us, give us some sort of some KPIs in terms of success rate on transactions or capacity of transactions that CDSL is able to handle as a result of this...
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
The number of demat accounts growing quarter-on-quarter... the number of transactions grow, the margin pledge transactions grow, the number of securities, new IPOs come... So it's a function of all this...
Evasive
High priority
Is the current technology spend the floor or will it increase?
Asked by Rohal Nagpal, Helios Capital Management
Management refused to give any forward guidance on technology spend trajectory.
no commitmentno guidance
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Question
Is it fair to assume that this is the floor on, like, we have to spend at least this much on an ongoing basis on technology to ensure business continuity?
Nehal Vora, MD and CEO
There is no simple answer to this... It's a function of all this, whether the technology cost will remain what it is, or it will grow. It is not a simple line... So there is no simple answer to this, whether it will remain same, whether this is a floor, etc.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated total revenue Q3 FY26: INR 334 crore | ₹334 cr | ₹304 cr | Overstated vs filing |
| Consolidated net profit Q3 FY26: INR 133 crore | ₹133 cr | ₹133 cr | Matches filing |
| Standalone total revenue Q3 FY26: INR 279 crore | ₹279 cr | ₹304 cr | Understated vs filing |
| Standalone net profit Q3 FY26: INR 120 crore | ₹120 cr | ₹133 cr | Understated vs filing |
| CVL nine-month revenue FY26: INR 132 crore | ₹132 cr | ₹304 cr | Understated vs filing |
| CVL nine-month PAT FY26: INR 42 crore | ₹42 cr | ₹133 cr | Understated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.