Market regulator Sebi has decided to outsource its investor helpline service to a third-party call centre, where at least 500 agents would be required to attend to investors' calls on issues like IPOs and trading.

The decision to outsource its investor helpline comes within weeks of Sebi deciding to rope in third-party agencies for processing and maintenance of investor grievances.

Faced with the Herculean task of handling lakhs of investor complaints, Sebi in March last week had decided to outsource such activities to help it resolve the investor complaints on a fast-track basis.

Now, Sebi has decided to empanel a third-party call centre to run its nationwide toll-free investor helpline, where the investors' calls would be initially attended to between 9.30 am to 5.30 pm on weekdays, an official said.

The timings and hours might be extended further after three months.