More than a decade after winning a legal claim of ₹856 crore against the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSEI) is now seeking an out-of-court settlement into the matter, sources told BusinessLine. 

The NSE is likely to have offered between ₹25 crore and ₹100 crore to settle the matter but a proposal of such a low amount is likely to face stiff resistance from MSEI shareholders, the sources said.

On a complaint from MSEI, the CCI, in 2011, held the NSE guilty of predatory pricing and monopolistic practices. But NSE challenged the CCI order in the Supreme Court (SC) and the final outcome of the award to MSEI has been pending since. Multiple adjournments and dates have been taken by the parties involved and the SC did not take up the case for hearing amid Covid backlog for nearly two years now. If the SC sticks to the award, the NSE will have to pay the same with interest, experts said.

So far, the NSE lacked any urgency to settle the matter as SEBI did not push the exchange. But NSE’s pending IPO could force it to get to the table with MSEI for a settlement, the sources said.