How to check a trading app and its SEBI registration
A familiar logo or a valid registration number can appear on a fake app. Verify the regulated entity and the exact channel independently before using an account. This checklist helps you check identity; it does not rank brokers by investment safety.
Start with the legal entity behind the brand
Open the broker’s official website independently, rather than through a forwarded invitation. Read its legal disclosure and note the stock-broker registration number, legal entity and official contact channel. The product brand and company name can differ; compare the entity in your account-opening documents.
Use the SEBI stock-broker register. Search by registration number and compare the legal name. Group companies can hold different registrations for different activities; a research-analyst or investment-adviser number does not establish stock-broker registration.
Match the app to official exchange listings
SEBI Investor Support links to authorised mobile-app lists maintained by NSE, BSE and other exchanges. Follow the relevant list and compare the app and publisher with the broker’s own download links. Search results and advertisements alone are insufficient evidence.
SEBI’s 25 March 2026 announcement introduced a Verified label on Google Play for apps associated with registered stock brokers. Inspect the live listing. KYB does not infer an individual app’s badge from the broker’s registration, and the announcement does not establish an equivalent label on every app store.
Check payment instructions independently
The March announcement also describes SEBI Check for checking bank accounts and validating UPI handles. Use the official SEBI channel and independently confirmed broker instructions when checking the payment destination. Stop when the entity, account or channel does not match; contact the broker through its own published support page.
A genuine registered company can be impersonated. The fact that its registration appears in the register does not verify a message sender, social-media group or payment request using its name. Keep your account credentials and authentication codes private.
Recognise fake-app warning signs
SEBI’s fake trading app warning describes social-media invitations, impressive profit displays and pressure to add money, followed by blocked withdrawals and further fee demands. Unverified APK links, third-party payment accounts and promised guaranteed returns are warning signs.
If you suspect cyber fraud, preserve the messages and payment records and use the official cybercrime portal or helpline 1930 referenced by SEBI. Do not send additional money merely because an app demands a fee to release a displayed balance. A broker-service grievance and a criminal impersonation complaint are different issues.
Understand the limit of a registration check
This procedure checks identity and the permitted intermediary activity. It does not measure market risk, predict outages or promise recovery of funds. A DP registration concerns depository participation; a stock-broker registration concerns broking. Neither should be substituted for the other.
Use KYB’s dated broker fact sheets as a starting point, then recheck the live official records before acting. Missing coverage on KYB means we have not locked sufficient source evidence; it does not mean the broker or product is unregistered.
Frequently asked
What people ask about how to check a trading app and its sebi registration.
Find the broker’s legal entity and stock-broker registration on its own website. Search that number in SEBI’s stock-broker register, compare the entity, then check the app against the exchange lists linked from SEBI Investor Support. A copied registration number alone does not authenticate an app.
No. Registration identifies the regulated intermediary and activity. It does not guarantee investment returns, prevent trading losses, authenticate a lookalike app or establish a service uptime promise. Check the channel as well as the entity.
SEBI’s 25 March 2026 announcement describes the Verified label for stock trading apps associated with SEBI-registered brokers. Check the actual listing and official broker links; the label is an identity aid, not an investment recommendation or return guarantee.