TMS makes you sell the same stock multiple times: Yes, you might lose money. No, NEPSE has no idea what went wrong

Online trading in NEPSE via the TMS platform has been halted as of writing, because of an unidentified issue in the system.

The online trading platform malfunctioned at about 11:15 AM, a few minutes after the market opened. At their astonishment, some investors also had their sell orders executed multiple times.

Sharesansar called NEPSE immediately after we were aware of the issue. Murari Parajuli, the official spokesperson of NEPSE was also aware of the issue, but he knew very little when we called because the team was still "working on the issue."

The online system not working swiftly is sadly a common issue in NEPSE. However, something even more disastrous happened today. It is clearly evident that the same sell order was executed more than once in the online portal. The stockbroker companies themselves have accepted such events happening today. However, NEPSE still has to "verify" from its side.

Nevertheless, we asked him what NEPSE was obliged to do if they finally verify the issue. According to Parajuli, the system has a unique identification number for each order placed. Based on similar past events, the system can be made to execute the trade only once. Note that he did not comment on the issue today.

Meanwhile, trading is postponed until further notice.

The problem of having a stock sold more than once was seen in a lot of broker companies today. When an investor (kept anonymous to protect privacy) placed a sell order, it neither showed in the pending order nor in completed, hence the client was in a confusion. Unsure whether the trade had taken place, he thought the system did not take his order. Thus, he placed an order again. And surprisingly, both orders were suddenly seen in the COMPLETED status.

The situation is baffling. Some investors have also reported having shares sold that is 5 times of what they actually have. If the order was already executed, there is no way why the system should redo the order and sell shares that aren't actually there.

There seems to be a serious system flaw in the securities market of Nepal. Given that anything concerning finance is a critical and sensitive sector, it is disappointing to experience anomalies like these, given that they pose a risk of someone losing their money.

The stock market is a game of risk and reward, but investors in NEPSE are compelled to take the risk they never agreed upon because of incidents like these.

Who do you think is responsible? Drop your opinion in the comment section below.