Indian stock markets will operate in line with orders of the central and state governments and notifications issued by the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
NSE
Sebi told CNBC-TV18 that it is monitoring the situation and will take action as needed.
The government had clarified that equity markets will remain open during the 21-day lockdown, beginning March 25, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in a bid to counter the coronavirus pandemic.
Vijay Bushan, the president of Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI), which represents over 900 brokers pointed out that the law enforcement agencies at the grassroots level were still not sensitised about a directive by Sebi.
"This has lead to several instances of manhandling of the staff of broking firms to travel to and from offices. We have also received several requests to suspend broking services on humanitarian grounds considering the growing instances of the spread of coronavirus. We will be taking up these concerns with Sebi today," Bhushan said.
Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI), a body that represents all commodity brokers in India, raised concerns over the difficulties faced by brokerage companies and their staff in reaching their offices.
"These are exceptional and unprecedented circumstances when the regulators need to take into consideration the safety of the people engaged in these services and their families and take bold unprecedented steps to at least curtail times of market," CPAI president Narinder Wadhwa said.