The Social Stock Exchange, explained for NGOs and CSR teams

India’s Social Stock Exchange (SSE) is a segment of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE where registered not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) can raise money for specific projects from individuals and companies, under rules set by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Donors subscribe to zero coupon zero principal (ZCZP) instruments, which pay no interest and return no principal, so a subscription is in effect a recorded donation, with public reporting on what it achieved.

Since 27 May 2026, companies can also count subscriptions to these instruments as CSR, up to 10% of their CSR spending for the year. That has made the SSE newly relevant to CSR teams, and to the NGOs they fund.

This guide describes the rules as of 3 October 2026. SEBI changes them often, so check the current circulars before acting.

What the SSE is, and the rules behind it

• A segment, not a new exchange. The SSE is a separate segment of a recognised stock exchange. NSE and BSE both have one.
• Built in stages. SEBI’s board approved the regulatory framework on 15 February 2022, ZCZP instruments were notified as securities on 15 July 2022, and SEBI amended its regulations on 25 July 2022.
• The rules. They sit in Chapter X-A of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018 (the ICDR Regulations), with ongoing disclosures in SEBI’s Listing Regulations. The operating detail is in SEBI’s Master Circular for the SSE of 19 January 2026, changed again on 15 April 2026.
• Two kinds of social enterprise. NPOs and for-profit social enterprises can both use the SSE. This guide covers NPOs, which raise money that isn’t paid back.

Which non-profits can register

SEBI’s Master Circular, as amended on 19 September 2025, sets these tests:

The tests have been eased over time: in December 2023 to admit 10(23C) and 10(46) entities, and in September 2025 to widen the legal forms that count.

Use it or lose it. Since an ICDR amendment of 8 September 2025, an NPO that registers must raise money through the SSE within two years or cease to be registered. Since 15 April 2026, the exchange may extend that by one more year.

Zero coupon zero principal instruments

A ZCZP instrument is a security that an NPO registered on the SSE issues to raise money for a project. It pays no interest and repays no principal. It is issued only in demat (electronic) form, and the original subscriber can’t transfer it until its tenure ends. The name hasn’t changed: SEBI’s January 2026 circular and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ May 2026 rules both use it.

NPOs can also raise money on the SSE by private placement, through donations via mutual fund schemes, or by other means SEBI allows. Social Impact Funds, a kind of alternative investment fund, may invest in securities issued by social enterprises, including NPOs on the SSE.

Reporting: the annual impact report

• The annual impact report. Every social enterprise that has raised money on the SSE files a duly assessed annual impact report by 31 October each year, or by its income-tax return due date if that is later (since 19 September 2025).
• Registered but not yet raised. An NPO that is only registered files a self-reported impact report on its significant activities, covering 67% of its programme expenditure in the previous year.
• Social Impact Assessors. The report is assessed by a Social Impact Assessor: an individual registered with a self-regulatory organisation under the institutes of chartered accountants, cost accountants or company secretaries (ICAI, ICMAI or ICSI), who has passed the National Institute of Securities Markets’ certification. The NPO publishes the assessor’s report with its own. SEBI replaced the older term “Social Auditor” in stages between 2023 and 2025.
• Other disclosures. Registered NPOs also disclose their registration certificates, their “FCRA certificate and returns”, and a statement of how the money raised was used.

The CSR route: Schedule VII item (xiii) and Rule 4A

Two notifications of 27 May 2026 opened the SSE to CSR. G.S.R. 416(E) added item (xiii) to Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013, “Subscription to zero coupon zero principal instruments on Social Stock Exchange”. G.S.R. 415(E) added Rule 4A and two definitions to the CSR Rules, which take the meaning of an NPO from SEBI’s ICDR Regulations.

Read the route carefully:

• A cap, not a target. No more than 10% of the year’s total CSR expenditure can go through ZCZP instruments.
• The exemption is the company’s alone. The NPO, which the government says is responsible for “project execution and project evaluation”, still reports and is assessed under SEBI’s framework. See impact assessment under the CSR rules.
• Most of Rule 4 still applies. Rule 4A switches off only sub-rules (5) and (6), on the CFO’s certificate and the monitoring of ongoing projects. So check that the issuing NPO also qualifies as an implementing agency under Rule 4(1) and has a CSR-1 registration number. SEBI’s definition of an NPO admits some bodies, such as those exempt under section 10(46), or under parts of section 10(23C) the CSR Rules don’t name, that Rule 4(1)’s income-tax conditions may not cover.
• FCRA is unaddressed. If a subscriber is a foreign source, neither SEBI’s circulars nor Rule 4A says whether the money is foreign contribution in the NPO’s hands. Take advice first: see who counts as a foreign source.

Progress so far

SEBI’s figure for 31 December 2024 is the latest official count we have found. Later figures are reported, not official, and they conflict: one analysis put registrations at about 176 (92 on BSE and 84 on NSE, with some NPOs on both) and NPOs with a listed issue at 11, as of May 2026, while other sites give much higher numbers. Check the NSE and BSE lists for the current position.

A Capacity Building Fund at NABARD, with an authorised corpus of ₹100 crore and an initial ₹10 crore from NABARD, SIDBI, NSE and BSE, helps NPOs prepare to use the SSE (as of October 2023).

Steps for an NGO

1. Check eligibility against SEBI’s tests, including ₹50 lakh of spending and ₹10 lakh of funding last year.
2. Decide whether the SSE suits you: a defined project big enough for a ₹50 lakh issue, and readiness for public disclosure and an assessed impact report every year.
3. Register on the SSE segment of NSE or BSE, and plan to raise money within two years.
4. Design the project with a clear budget, outcomes and indicators, lasting no more than three financial years if you want CSR money. Our guide to choosing indicators helps.
5. Check your CSR-1 registration if you expect companies to subscribe from their CSR budgets: see Form CSR-1.
6. Publish the draft fund-raising document for at least 21 days of public comment, and answer the exchange’s points.
7. Raise the money, reaching at least 75% of the issue, or 50% if the exchange agrees.
8. Use and report: a statement of how the money was used, and an annual impact report by 31 October, assessed by a Social Impact Assessor.
9. When the listing ends, transfer any unspent amount to a Schedule VII fund, as Rule 4A requires where CSR money is involved, and report to SEBI.

Steps for a CSR team

• Allow for the route in your CSR policy and annual action plan, and keep subscriptions within 10% of the year’s total CSR expenditure.
• Check the NPO as you would any implementing agency: Rule 4(1) eligibility, CSR-1, governance and finances. See choosing an NGO partner.
• Settle your FCRA position if your company may be a foreign source.
• Read the fund-raising document, then subscribe through a demat account, knowing the instrument can’t be transferred.
• Follow the NPO’s impact reports, and report the subscription in your annual report on CSR under Schedule VII item (xiii).

The Academy’s course CSR Law in Depth has a lesson on the Social Stock Exchange route, with worked questions on the 10% cap.