Market regulator SEBI on Wednesday said all investor complaints should be forwarded electronically through its recently launched centralised database system, SCORES.

"... henceforth all complaints shall be forwarded electronically through SCORES only," the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a circular.

The regulator had in June operationalised a centralised database to fastrack redressal of investor complaints against listed companies, called SEBI Complaints Redressal System (SCORES).

Under the new system, companies are required to view the complaints pending against them and submit ATRs (Action Taken Reports), along with supporting documents electronically in SCORES.

In the circular issued today, SEBI said updation of actions taken in the past would not be possible with physical ATRs. "Hence, submission of physical ATR will not be accepted for complaints lodged in SCORES," it said.

Market intermediaries can view the complaints in the SCORES system by logging in with their user id and password, which will be communicated separately by the regulator. SEBI will also send a daily alert on pending complaints at the e-mail ID registered with it for regulatory communications.

"Failure on the part of the entity in updating the ATR on the SCORES will be considered as non-redressal of complaint and will be shown as pending against the entity," it said.

SCORES facilitates online movement of complaints to the concerned listed companies by enabling online upload of ATRs by these companies.