The broking business is passing through a time of significant changes and upheavals, with rising competition from larger players in a shrinking business line, a SEBI survey said.

More than 40 per cent of the market participants (MPs) have been negatively affected by competition in their business in the past three years. MPs also have lost out due to transaction taxes (42 per cent) and exchange regulations (38 per cent).

Lower commissions are markedly visible from global data as well, while clients’ access to the Internet, not a key reason though, has started affecting the earnings of MPs. “It can be expected to become one of the leading reasons as the Internet-savvy generation reaches the age of investing, and clients, through their experience of e-commerce, become more comfortable with e-investing,” the findings of the survey revealed.

SEBI has also taken significant steps in the direction of improving access to securities markets through the Internet, the regulator said in the note.

The Market Participants’ Survey includes responses from 305 authorised persons, 100 brokers, 90 depository participants, 210 mutual fund agents and 311 sub-brokers (total of 1,016 respondents) across the country.