Has NSE become like Big Bazaar-not creating customer value?

God knows that I have no sentimental attachment to the BSE. In my view, the old broker lobby(which had and still has, a stranglehold on the BSE) is responsible for the scams, market manipulation, investor mistreatment etc that was the hallmark of the Indian markets pre liberalization. In that atmosphere, the financial institutions promoted National Stock Exchange(NSE)'s professional approach came as a breath of fresh air.The list of innovations done by NSE is too large to enumerate-screen based trading, demat etc. But in the last 2-3 yrs, NSE seems to have stagnated. Barring the reforms carried out at SEBI's insistence, there is no new paradigm. But now, BSE seems to have woken up to the reality that it must compete on innovation. It has launched a new very user friendly free platform BSE Plus. This allows an retail investor to(for others there is always Bloomberg/Reuters/CIQ)

1. Peer Comps(default + pick and choose)
2. Retrieve annual reports and exchange filings
3. Visualize certain indicators graphically(presently only default options).

BSE Plus type initiative could have been done by the tech savvy NSE much easier and better. But they preferred to sit it out. And when a new player innovates(like MCX), NSE adopted predatory pricing(zero transaction charges) to kill the competition. This tactic though legal, is not in investor's long run interest.

Similarly, the Kishore Biyani venture Big Bazaar's USP was 'Isse sasta aur accha aur kahin nahin' translating to 'You won't get it cheaper and better elsewhere'. As some one who has shopped in multiple cities(Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Pune) over an extended time period, I note that the value proposition has steadily eroded. Groceries, fruits and consumables have become costlier. Branded items are sold at merely 5% discount and they give pride of precedence to their store brands. While this is an international trend(retailers preferring store brands for higher margins), Big Bazaar should simply drop its tag line, which is now more appropriate to a Star Bazaar or a D Mart.