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Informist, Wednesday, Jun. 11, 2025

 

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--SEBI to launch validated UPI handles for secured payments by investors
--SEBI: New UPI structure for all SEBI-registered entities who collect funds
--SEBI to launch "SEBI Check" tool to verify authenticity of UPI addresses
--SEBI: Validated UPI addresses, 'SEBI Check' tool to be available from Oct 1
--SEBI: Developed centralised fee collection mechanism for investment advisers
--SEBI: Developed centralised fee collection mechanism for research analysts
--CONTEXT: SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey's comments at press meet
--SEBI Pandey: Lot of concern around people becoming prey to cyber frauds
--SEBI Pandey: Have to find out systemic solutions to cyber frauds
--SEBI Pandey: To work with online playstores to show only validated apps
--SEBI Pandey: With new UPI system, can check if account is of verified broker
--SEBI Pandey: Will do investor awareness campaign on safe investing
--SEBI Pandey: Will do investor awareness campaign on cyber security
--SEBI: New UPI verification system mandatory for intermediaries

 

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI – The Securities and Exchange Board of India will soon launch validated unified payments interface handles for secured payments by investors with registered intermediaries. Effective Oct. 1, SEBI will introduce a structured and validated UPI address mechanism featuring an exclusive "@valid" handle for all SEBI-registered investor-facing intermediaries, the market regulator said in a press release on Wednesday.

 

SEBI said the initiative will safeguard investors since in recent years it has seen that unregistered entities have increasingly misled investors by collecting funds without authorisation "often siphoning off these amounts for personal gain."

 

The new framework, according to SEBI, aims to proactively enable investors to easily identify legitimate registered market intermediaries and make payments to them securely and efficiently.

 

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a press conference that the market regulator will offer a tool or an app that will allow investors to check the UPI handles given to them by any intermediary claiming to be registered. The investor can, therefore, check if the intermediary "is the right fellow" or not before effecting any payments to it, Pandey said.

 

SEBI will conduct investor awareness campaigns on safe investing and cyber security, he said. On cybersecurity, Pandey said there have been a lot of concerns around people becoming prey to cyber frauds. It will be mandatory for all SEBI-registered market intermediaries to get their UPI handles validated by the market regulator under the new verification mechanism, Pandey said.

 

Investors will continue to have the option of paying market intermediaries through UPI handles or their bank accounts, but the investor will still be able to use the SEBI check facility to verify whether the IFSC code and the bank account number belongs to the intermediary or not, Ananth Narayan, whole-time member of SEBI, said at the press conference. With the new UPI system, individuals will be able to check if an account is of a verified broker or not.

 

While the validated UPI framework will come into effect starting October, intermediaries will have another 60 days to migrate to the new framework, a SEBI official said. "There is a glidepath. Even if the circular comes into effect from Oct. 1, intermediaries can use their existing UPI handles for 60 days. After that, they will have to discontinue their existing UPI handles," the official said.

 

Pandey said there is a need to find systemic solutions to cyber frauds. With this in mind, the market regulator has been in talks with Apple and Google to only display validated apps on their respective online app stores. The chairman said he expects to announce the outcome from these talks soon.

 

SEBI has also developed a centralised fee collection mechanism for investment advisers, and research analysts called 'CeFCoM'. This mechanism provides a secure ecosystem for investors to pay fees to registered investment advisers and research analysts. The mechanism differentiates registered from unregistered advisers and analysts, and around INR 50 million has been collected through this mechanism so far.  End

 

Reported by Rajesh Gajra, Anshul Choudhary, and Shubham Rana

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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