The PHD Chamber of Commerce has written to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging her to bail out small companies with paid-up capital of Rs 25 lakh that has been unable to delist from the 115-year-old Calcutta Stock Exchange.

“It is requested that the ministry should consider giving one-time relaxation by introducing an amnesty kind of scheme for small listed companies for delisting by paying one-time fees/fine or for settling their outstanding dues,” Saket Dalmia, president PHD Chamber of Commerce, said in a letter to the minister.

The president in his letter said that many small companies which are inactive and do not want to continue should be given a chance to apply for delisting from the stock exchange and should be allowed to do so by paying a nominal charge.

“The companies which are having capital less than Rs 1 crore and want to delist themselves from Calcutta Stock Exchange should be allowed to do so with no penalty or penalty not exceeding 1-2 per cent of the total capital,” the letter said.

“In a few cases, it has also been noticed that the demat accounts of directors have been frozen by the stock exchange due to non-compliance by the company. Interestingly, before freezing their account no information was given that there is non-compliance and if not resolved their account can be frozen,” the letter said

The Calcutta Stock Exchange was directed by capital market regulator Sebi to suspend trading operations effective April 3, 2013.

The PHD Chamber letter said that the Calcutta Stock Exchange has been asked to exit by Sebi, but the matter is sub judice before Calcutta High Court. Thirteen other regional stock exchanges have closed in the last three years, including the likes of Bangalore Stock Exchange, Hyderabad Stock Exchange and Madras Stock Exchange.

The letter also said that there has been no trading in the exchange for eight years and shareholders are not getting any facility from the stock exchange even after making the payment of listing fees. Further, the exchange has been imposing penalties on small companies for having paid up capital of Rs 25 lakh for non-compliance or delay in compliance leading towards the erosion of capital.