NEW DELHI, May 30: The Delhi Stock Exchange's schedule for expanding its online trading system beyond the territories of Delhi has gone haywire with the stand off between its president and the executive director. ``Matters have come to a standstill.

The board is unable to meet and approve the V-SAT (very small aperture terminals) agreement with Hughes Escorts although the selection of the vendor has been made public. Unless the V-SATs are in place, the trade guarantee agreement (to be submitted to SEBI) cannot be finalised and this will affect our expansion beyond Delhi within a month,'' says a board member, who did not wish to be named.

According to a top official of the exchange, the expansion programme is already behind schedule by 15-20 days and may be further delayed till the matter is resolved. The board was supposed to meet in the first week of May but due to the differences between the president and the ED, the meeting has been indefinitely postponed. Following reports of DSE president Paramjeet Singh being declared a defaulter by Executive Director, the two sides have been hurling allegations at each other.

While the President blames the administration for lack of co-operation, the executive director seems unrepentant. The matter took a serious turn when the Securities & Exchange Board of India sought an explanation from the President, who in turn, has approached the finance ministry.

Brokers say with the two senior officials washing their dirty linen in public, the working of the exchange is being affected. ``It is an unfortunate development and should have been avoided,'' says a leading broker of the exchange.

Faced with the mushrooming of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) terminals, the Delhi Stock Exchange had decided to expand beyond the territorial boundary of Delhi by the month-end. Last month, DSE brokers were exuberant at SEBI's in-principal clearance for the DOT expansion and were eagerly waiting for the finalisation of the V-SAT vendor as well as the trade guarantee fund to reach to out to clients in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

In fact, as a conscious decision, DSE had decided to provide the V-SAT terminals at a lower fee than Mumbai Stock Exchange. However, with the board yet to approve the V-SAT vendor, the details of the cost is yet to be worked out. ``We have to take a decision on whether we want to put a subsidy element like BSE and recover our costs over a period of time,'' adds the board member.

DSE, which at present, has a turnover of Rs 200-250 crore after its on-line trading began last year, expects volumes to rise by approximately 50-75 per cent once the V-SATs are in place. Apart from speeding up efficiency of the exchange, the V-SATs will solve the problem of space as brokers can work out of their offices.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.