“Structurally Redundant”: SEBI Discontinues IRRA Trading Access Platform Nearly Two Years After Introduction

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday discontinued the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform, an alternative trading access mechanism introduced for stock brokers to handle disruptions in trading services.

SEBI said stock exchanges had informed it that the IRRA platform had become “structurally redundant”. The regulator said the platform had not been accessed by stock brokers since inception because of robust regulatory measures, technological innovations and the availability of the contingency pool trading facility.

In a circular issued on May 7, the regulator said the IRRA platform was introduced in December 2022 and operationalised from October 1, 2023,

The regulator noted that several technology-driven measures introduced subsequently had significantly improved operational resilience and continuity of trading services.

These included Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery (BCP-DR) requirements, enhanced cyber security and cyber resilience framework, implementation of the Security Operations Centre for the market (M-SOC), strengthening of the technical glitch framework, and the contingency pool trading facility.

The regulator also noted that stock brokers had developed the capability for seamless transitions between primary and alternate sites during disruptions and independent cold sites for business continuity.

Accordingly, SEBI decided to discontinue the platform with immediate effect and advised stock exchanges to review and strengthen the contingency pool trading facility framework.