How to Check if an Adviser Is SEBI Registered

In short: open SEBI's list of registered investment advisers, search the adviser's name or registration number (it starts with INA), and check three things: the name matches the person or firm you will sign with, the validity says "Perpetual" or runs to a future date, and the contact details on the register are consistent with the ones you were given. Then confirm the adviser is enlisted with BSE, and check the account or UPI ID you are asked to pay into on SEBI's own checking tool.

Registration takes a few minutes to check. It is worth doing even when a friend or a forum reply recommended the adviser, because a real adviser's name and number can be copied onto a fake profile. This guide walks through each step, using our own registration as the worked example.

Step 1: get the exact name and number

Ask the adviser for two things in writing:

1. The name as registered with SEBI. An individual adviser is registered in their own name, even if they use a brand. A firm is registered in the company's name.
2. The SEBI registration number. For an investment adviser it starts with INA, usually followed by nine digits.

Other SEBI and industry registrations look different, and they are not the same thing:

A research analyst or a distributor is not an investment adviser. If someone offers you a financial plan or ongoing advice for a fee, they should have an INA number.

Step 2: search SEBI's register

SEBI publishes the list of every registered adviser. On sebi.gov.in, the path is Intermediaries / Market Infrastructure Institutions → Recognised Intermediaries → Investment Adviser, or go straight to SEBI's list of investment advisers.

You can search by:

• name or trade name
• registration number
• contact person
• email
• location

Searching by registration number is the most reliable, because names can be similar.

Worked example. Searching INA100008045 on 27 October 2026 returned one record:

The entry also shows a telephone number and a correspondence address. SEBI's register listed 1,065 advisers, individuals and firms together, as on 26 October 2026.

Step 3: read the entry, field by field

If the search finds nothing, try the number again without spaces, then the name, and check BSE's list (step 4). If SEBI's site shows an error, try again later. If neither SEBI's register nor BSE's list shows the adviser, treat them as unregistered. Advice from someone who is not registered is not regulated advice, whatever their profile says.

Step 4: check enlistment with BSE

SEBI has recognised BSE as the body that supervises investment advisers, the Investment Adviser Administration and Supervisory Body (IAASB). Registered advisers are enlisted with it.

Search the name or SEBI number on BSE's list of enlisted investment advisers. The list shows the BSE enlistment number, the SEBI registration number, the name, city and state. Our entry appears as "1686 | ABHISHEK KUMAR | INA100008045".

Step 5: check the website and documents

SEBI's Master Circular for Investment Advisers requires every adviser to keep a functional website. It must show, prominently, on the website and in agreements, forms and other communication with clients:

• the full name as registered with SEBI
• the type of registration: individual or non-individual
• the registration number and its validity
• the complete address, with telephone numbers
• the contact details of the principal officer
• the address of the SEBI regional or local office it falls under

Advisers must also publish their complaints data every month, and SEBI's Investor Charter for advisers.

A website that shows an INA number but none of the rest is a reason to ask questions. So is a website whose contact details differ from SEBI's register.

Step 6: check where your fee goes

A fraud that borrows a real adviser's name usually needs your payment to work. Three checks help.

1. Pay only through banking channels. SEBI's Investor Charter asks you to pay advisory fees through banking channels and keep signed receipts. Never pay cash. If the account name doesn't match the adviser's registered name or trade name, ask why, and check the account on SEBI Check (point 3) before paying.
2. Use the "@valid" UPI ID. SEBI has given registered intermediaries that collect money from investors an exclusive "@valid" UPI ID with a category suffix, available for payments from 1 October 2025. For investment advisers the suffix is ".ia", so an ID looks like name.ia@validbankname. Intermediaries must offer it as a payment option, and their old UPI IDs were to be phased out by December 2025. When you pay to a validated ID, your UPI app shows a thumbs-up inside a green triangle. If you pay by UPI, SEBI says to pay only to the new IDs. Bank transfers and cheques remain allowed.
3. Confirm the account on SEBI Check. SEBI Check, also in SEBI's Saarthi app, confirms whether a bank account number and IFSC, or an "@valid" UPI ID, belongs to a SEBI-registered intermediary. It works for NEFT, RTGS and IMPS transfers too.

Some advisers also accept fees through BSE's Centralised Fee Collection Mechanism (CeFCoM), which has run since 1 October 2024. It is optional for advisers. If your adviser uses it, paying through it confirms the fee is going to a registered adviser.

What registration proves, and what it doesn't

On commission. SEBI requires client-level separation of advice and distribution across an adviser's group or family: if you take advice from them, you cannot also be sold products by the same group, and the other way round. Ask directly whether the adviser, or anyone in their family or group, earns anything from what they recommend. You can also search the adviser's name on AMFI's distributor search and on IRDAI's Agent Locator. A listing there is not a breach by itself, because the rule separates advice and selling client by client. It is a reason to ask how the adviser keeps the two apart for you. Our article on RIAs, distributors and fee-based advisers explains how each is paid.

On quality. SEBI makes every adviser carry a standard disclaimer about this, word for word; you will find it at the end of this article. In short, registration, enlistment and NISM certification are no promise about performance or returns. Registration is the minimum, not a rating.

How to spot a page that breaks SEBI's advertising rules

Advertisements by investment advisers, including websites and social media posts, must follow SEBI's advertisement code, and need prior approval from BSE. Under the code, an adviser's advertisement may not:

• promise fixed, minimum or certain returns, or imply the advice carries no market risk
• use misleading testimonials
• call itself "No. 1", "Top Adviser", "Leading" or similar
• show past performance, unless the figures are verified by SEBI's Past Risk and Return Verification Agency (PaRRVA)
• describe a service as free when it comes with conditions
• discredit other intermediaries or make unfair comparisons
• use SEBI's logo

It must show the name as registered with SEBI, the registered address, the registration number and the market-risk warning, word for word. A page that does any of the above is a warning sign, whatever the registration number at the bottom says.

If something goes wrong

SEBI's Investor Charter for advisers sets out the steps:

1. Write to the adviser first. The adviser must try to resolve it immediately, and within 21 days at most.
2. File on SCORES 2.0. SEBI's complaint system has two levels of review for complaints against advisers: first by BSE as the IAASB, then by SEBI.
3. Use online dispute resolution. If you are still not satisfied, you can take the dispute to conciliation or arbitration on SMART ODR.

Does the adviser need to be near you?

SEBI's search has a location field, and many people search for an adviser "near me". Location matters less than the checks above. Advisers can hold meetings by video and share documents by email, and the register shows where they are based either way. Choose on registration, how they are paid, the agreement and whether their service fits your situation.

Checklist before your first call

1. The INA number and the registered name, in writing.
2. A matching entry on SEBI's register, with valid registration.
3. A matching entry on BSE's list of enlisted advisers.
4. Contact details consistent with SEBI's register, or a clear answer where they differ.
5. A website that shows the registration details, the SEBI regional office, the Investor Charter and complaints data.
6. A plain answer to "does anyone connected to you earn from what you recommend?"
7. A payment account or UPI ID you have checked on SEBI Check.

Our guide to choosing a SEBI investment adviser covers the next steps: qualifications, fees, the agreement and the risk profile.

About SahajMoney

SahajMoney is the advisory practice of Abhishek Kumar, an individual SEBI Registered Investment Adviser (INA100008045), enlisted with BSE Limited (IAASB), enlistment number 1686. Every page of our website links to our entry on SEBI's register with the number filled in, and our SEBI disclosures carry the Investor Charter and complaints data. See what our service includes.

Registration granted by SEBI, enlistment with IAASB and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the IA or provide any assurance of returns to investors.

Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.