The Securities and Exchange Board of India has withdrawn the Investor Risk Reduction Access platform for stock brokers with immediate effect, ending the backup trading access arrangement that was created to provide an alternative trading access point during broker-side disruptions. The regulator said the platform has become redundant because brokers now operate under stronger business continuity, cyber resilience and technical glitch controls and can also use stock exchanges' contingency pool trading facility. IRRA was introduced in December 2022 and became operational on October 1, 2023, but stock exchanges told SEBI it has not been accessed by brokers since launch. SEBI cited the operationalization of business continuity and disaster recovery requirements, the enhanced cyber security and cyber resilience framework, the market Security Operations Centre, stronger arrangements for switching between primary and alternate sites, the emergence of independent cold sites, and the continued availability of contingency pool trading terminals at exchanges for squaring off client positions during disruptions. Stock exchanges may review the contingency pool trading facility to strengthen its framework, and the circular supersedes the earlier December 2022 circular.

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