In the second stage, the broker would need to put in place a software at his end which enables a security check of the client who is placing the order."No broker would like to take exposure to a client he does not know. Till such time e-commerce does not become an accepted norm in India with all security checks in place, brokers would not like to take the risk of executing an order for an unknown person. However, a start can be made in the form of a broker receiving an order from his existing client through the Net rather than the telephone or apersonal visit. This is as safe as the existing practice and for the investor much more simpler," said NSE managing director RH Patil.

The exercise of providing investors real-time rates of stock movement has already been achieved. These rates are available on NSE's website and now also on www.yahoo.com.

"Once an existing client decides to place an order he can do so directly through the Net. He would be given a password, on the basis of which the genuineness of the investor could be ascertained by the broker. This part of the exercise of putting in place adequate security checks will shortly commence," said Patil.

"Our brokers would be offered linkages with our site and hence, even a new investor could, by going to our site, get access to several of our brokers. It would then depend on the broker to develop a comfort level with the client before he feels safe to take his orders through the Net," Patil added. Patil who last week made a presentation before the Economic Intelligence Unit on the impact ofe-commerce on the financial sector told The Financial Express that the success of e-commerce requires a good telecom network which can handle the huge amount of traffic.

"There is need for good connectivity and more importantly the bank's payment systems have to be equipped to handle such traffic. Safety and secrecy systems also have to be inbuilt. Then we need the agencies who can transport the goods speedily and effectively once the deal is executed," said Patil.

"Sadly, while on the one hand internet access rates in India are still very high, our banking industry is not in a position to handle traffic and carry out real-time authentication, both prerequisites for a successful e-commerce industry," he added.

"To top it all DoT rules restricting connectivity between two systems makes it all the more difficult to adopt e-commerce. The world is moving fast and in developed markets if a company does not utilise e-commerce it stands to lose enormously. But as far as India is concerned, it appearsthat e-commerce is still a distant hope," Patil said.