Central Depository Services (India) Limited (CDSL) is incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 1956. CDSL. is a securities depository promoted by the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd. (BSE) and a cross section of leading nationalized and private banks. Presently, CDSL's services are delivered by over 500 Depository Participants (DPs) to more than 7.5 million demat account holders from over 10,000 locations across India, in respect of the securities of 8,283 Issuer companies. CDSL received its Certificate of Commencement of Business in February 1999. The introduction of the depository system has ushered in an era of efficient market infrastructure, improved investor protection, reduced risks and transparency of transactions in the securities market. It has also brought immense benefit to companies, in terms of reduced costs and the effort expended in managing their security holder populace. Further, the depository system, with electronic book entry transfers helped reduce settlement cycles and consequently facilitated an efficient securities transfer mechanism in the country. From the conception stage itself, the retail investor has been the focus of CDSL's efforts. CDSL chose to benchmark itself not against the first depository, but against the retail investor's expectations and concerns. Provision of convenient, dependable and secure services at an affordable cost has been at the heart of CDSL's unwritten contract with all classes of investors.

In an effort to reduce the time taken for conducting a postal ballot and also obviate the issues faced by investors in voting for corporate resolutions, CDSL has developed the e-Voting System for Corporates.

The e-Voting System for Corporates is a web based platform which enables companies obtain votes for resolutions proposed by it from its security holders electronically in a quick and cost efficient manner.

The e-Voting System for Coporates was launched by Hon. Minister of Coporate Affairs Shri Salman Khurshid on 17th November 2009, and credited the initiative as a step forward in ensuring good corporate governance and investor empowerment.

The e-Voting System has also been approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) vide its circular no. 21/2011 dated 2nd May, 2011. Further, the Standarization Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) has been undertaken for the e-Voting website. This certification is granted by the Directorate of STQC which is an attached office of the Department of Information Technology to certify the websites user-friendliness and security for facilitating electronic transactions