At least four entities — Karvy, CAMS, NSDL and CDSL — have evinced interest in bidding for the job of verifying genuineness of about three crore investors in high-profile Sahara case on behalf of the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Sebi is in the process of selecting an in-person verification (IPV) agency currently to conduct face-to-face verification of an estimated three crore bondholders of two Sahara group firms, by checking their identify and address proofs.

The Supreme Court has asked Sebi to facilitate refund of about Rs 24,000 crore with 15 per cent annual interest to these investors after ascertaining their genuineness.

While Sebi has extended the bid submission deadline for selection of such an IPV agency by a month till December 21, a pre-bid meeting arranged by the market regulator with the interested parties was attended by representatives of at least four KYC registration agencies (KRAs).

Sebi has invited bids from public sector banks as well for IPV agency, but the pre-bid meeting, held on November 7 at Sebi headquarters in Mumbai, was not attended by any bank representative, as per the minutes of the meeting.