Long-term ASM (LT-ASM): stages I to IV, measures and exit

Last reviewed 13 October 2026 · by Rachid Asen

Long-term ASM is the four-stage part of the Additional Surveillance Measure. A stock enters at Stage I, can move up to Stage IV if its price keeps rising sharply with concentrated trading, and stays at least 90 calendar days before the weekly review can take it out one stage at a time.

Which stocks it covers

Listed stocks, including public-sector companies. Since August 2024 a version of the framework also covers stocks with derivatives and their futures and options (circular NSE/SURV/63362). Securities already under GSM or in trade-for-trade settlement are not shortlisted.

What puts a stock in Stage I

NSE's FAQ on ASM (last updated 20 September 2024) lists seven criteria for stocks without derivatives. Each combines several tests, for example:

a large high-low or close-to-close price variation over 3 months, 60 trading days or 365 days, measured against a hurdle that adds a share of the Nifty 50's own move (the stock's beta times the index variation);
trading concentrated in a few hands: the top 25 clients accounting for 25% or more of the combined NSE and BSE volume in the last 30 days;
for some criteria, a market capitalisation above or below a set level, a jump in volume with low delivery, or a negative or high P/E.

The exact thresholds of each criterion are in the FAQ linked under Sources. They are the exchanges' to set and change.

Stages I to IV and their measures

Stage	How a stock gets there	Measures (stocks without derivatives)
I	Shortlisted on the entry criteria	100% margin from T+3 (T: the day the stock was shortlisted)
II	A Stage I stock whose close-to-close rise over 5 consecutive trading days is at least 25% plus its beta times the Nifty 50's move, with the top 25 clients at 30% or more of the combined volume in the last 30 days	Price band cut to the next lower level; 100% margin
III	The same test, met by a Stage II stock	Price band cut again to the next lower level; 100% margin
IV	The same test, met by a Stage III stock	Settlement on a gross basis, 100% margin for all clients and a 5% price band

Measures as published in NSE's FAQ on ASM (last updated 20 September 2024), checked on 13 October 2026. The exchanges change them by circular; the current circular applies.

Some stocks go straight to Stage IV. Under one criterion (a stock already in a price band of 10%, 5% or 2% whose close-to-close rise over 365 days is at least 200% plus its beta times the Nifty 50's move, with a market capitalisation above ₹1,000 crore and concentrated trading) a stock is placed directly in Stage IV and kept there for at least 90 calendar days before stage-wise review.

Stocks with derivatives

For stocks with futures and options, the stages work on margins and position limits instead: in Stage I the margin is 50% (or the existing margin, if higher) on the futures and options and 100% on the stock; Stage II cuts the market-wide position limit to 75% of the usual limit; Stage III cuts it to 50%; and in Stage IV no fresh contracts are issued, and once the existing ones expire the stock moves to gross settlement with a 5% price band.

Review and exit

90 calendar days. A stock becomes eligible to leave only after 90 calendar days in long-term ASM.
Weekly, stage by stage. The review is weekly. A Stage IV stock that no longer meets the Stage IV entry criteria moves to Stage III; Stage III moves to II and Stage II to I in the same way.
Leaving. Only a Stage I stock that no longer meets the entry criteria of long-term ASM leaves the framework.

The exchanges decide every move. Short-term ASM, the two-stage framework for sharp moves over days or weeks, is on the short-term ASM page.

Sources

NSE: FAQs – Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM), last updated 20 September 2024: shortlisting criteria, long-term stages I–IV, short-term stages I–II, review and exit. It cites circulars NSE/SURV/52090 (22 April 2022, long-term ASM) and NSE/SURV/52144 (28 April 2022, short-term ASM).
NSE: Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM): the framework's parameters and NSE's list of shortlisted securities.
BSE: Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM) and BSE: FAQs on ASM: BSE's circulars, its long-term and short-term ASM lists, and its daily “Applicability of Additional Surveillance Measure” notices.

Exchange circulars change. Where this page and the current circular differ, the circular applies.

More ESM and ASM guides

What is ESM?Who can be put under ESM on NSE and BSE, what changes for the stock, and who decides.
ESM Stage 1The price-variation tests that put a stock in Stage 1 and the trading limits that follow.
ESM Stage 2When a Stage 1 stock moves to the stricter Stage 2, and when it can move back.
ESM exit rulesThe weekly review, the 90-day minimum and why a Stage 2 stock exits in two steps.
What is ASM?What ASM is, its long-term and short-term frameworks, the typical measures and who decides.
Short-term ASM (ST-ASM)The two short-term stages, their margins and the 5 or 15 trading-day review.
ASM vs ESM vs GSMWhat triggers each measure, its stages and typical limits, side by side.

Not investment advice. This page explains the exchanges' published rules for education only. It does not recommend buying, selling or holding any security. Inclusion, stage changes and exit are decided solely by NSE and BSE.