Your investor rights
SEBIWhat SEBI guarantees every investor — and how to use those rights.
What SEBI protects
SEBI (the Securities and Exchange Board of India) is the regulator for India's securities markets. Its core mandate is to protect the interests of investors and to develop and regulate the market.
As a retail investor you have the right to fair access to information, fair pricing, timely settlement, and a free grievance-redressal mechanism.
Your key rights
Right to disclosure: companies must disclose material information (results, corporate actions, related-party deals) to everyone at the same time.
Right to grievance redressal: you can escalate any complaint against a listed company, broker, RA, or IA through SEBI's SCORES portal — free of charge.
Right to a registered intermediary: anyone giving you paid investment advice or research for a fee must be registered with SEBI (RA/IA). You can verify this before paying.
Right to your own money: brokers cannot misuse client funds; trades settle into your demat account; payouts must reach your linked bank account.
If something goes wrong
Document everything (statements, chats, payment proof), raise it first with the intermediary, and if unresolved in ~21 days, file on SCORES.
Never pay an adviser in cash or to a personal account — only through a regulated, auditable channel.