The questions people ask before they pay
Every one of these started as a question somebody actually asked us, or typed into a search box before they found us. None of them has a number for an answer, because the rules do not allow one and the honest version does not need one.
Updated 23 September 2026 · Potoos Research Services
Quick answers, 17 of them
The questions people actually type, with the short version of each answer. Every one links to the page that goes deeper. None of them has a number for an answer, because a registered analyst may not publish performance, and the honest version does not need one.
How do I verify a SEBI registered research analyst?
Open SEBI's public register of Research Analysts, search the INH number you were given, and check that the name and city on the record match the website you are on. A Research Analyst number starts with INH. An Investment Adviser number starts with INA. Potoos is INH000027380, Vinoth Kumar S, Chennai. Do it before you pay, and again at renewal.
Where is the list of SEBI registered research analysts?
SEBI publishes one national register of every registered Research Analyst, and it is the only list nobody on it can edit. Third-party “top 10” lists are editorial, and some are paid placements. Use them to find names if you like, then confirm every name on SEBI's own register, including ours.
Who is a SEBI registered research analyst in Chennai?
Potoos Research Services is one: Vinoth Kumar S, INH000027380, a research desk in Chennai serving clients across India in English and Tamil. There are other registered analysts in Chennai too, so rather than take any single name on trust, search the register for whoever you are considering and match the name and the city.
What is the difference between a research analyst and an investment adviser?
A Research Analyst publishes research and recommendations on securities, under a registration beginning INH. An Investment Adviser advises you on your own portfolio and circumstances, under a separate registration beginning INA. If you want a view on a stock, that is research. If you want a plan built around your life, that is advice. Potoos is registered for the first.
Can a SEBI registered research analyst trade the stocks they recommend?
Not around the recommendation. SEBI's rules bar an analyst and their associates from dealing in a recommended security within 30 days before and 5 days after publishing on it. At Potoos that means the recommended options are not traded by us at all, and equity held outside those windows is the only exception.
How much does a stock advisory cost per year in India?
SEBI caps what a research analyst may charge individual and Hindu Undivided Family clients at ₹1,51,000 per family per year. Published prices below that ceiling start at a few thousand rupees a quarter. Ours are ₹2,999 for three months, ₹5,499 for six and ₹9,999 for a year. Whether a price is reasonable depends on the capital it sits against.
Which is the best stock advisory service in India?
Nobody registered can answer that with a name. SEBI's advertisement code bars every registered analyst from publishing performance, so no number-one claim in this industry can be backed publicly, and a service making one is telling you something about itself. Compare on checkable facts instead: the registration, published fees, a complete record, and a working grievance route.
Is a paid stock advisory worth it?
It depends what you think you are buying. A subscription cannot buy an outcome, and any service implying otherwise is breaking the rules. What it can buy is a defined process: an entry, a target and a stop-loss set before entry, the reasoning in writing, and a record that keeps the losses. Whether that is worth the fee is arithmetic against your capital.
Are stock tips illegal in India?
Giving recommendations on securities for consideration requires SEBI registration as a Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. So the problem is paid tips from an unregistered person, not tips as such. A channel with no registration has no conduct rules, no fee cap and no complaint route, which is why recourse disappears exactly when you need it.
Are Telegram stock tips channels trustworthy?
A channel owes you nothing. It can delete a call, move a target, or disappear overnight, and SEBI's own enforcement orders document operators who profited by selling into their followers' buying. Before following any channel, ask for a registration number and check it. If there is not one, you have no recourse at all.
Who is the best SEBI registered research analyst for options trading?
The same answer as “best” anywhere in this category: no registered analyst may publish performance, so nobody can prove it and anyone claiming it is breaking the code. For options specifically, check whether every call carries a stop-loss set before entry, whether calls arrive before the market opens rather than during it, and whether the losing calls are still in the record.
Do I get intraday tips?
Not on the small-capital plan, and that is deliberate. Calls go out the evening before the market opens so you are never reacting to a message mid-session, and because by the time a live message reaches you the price has usually already moved. If what you want is live intraday alerts, this is not the service for you.
How much capital do I need to start?
₹50,000 is our floor, and the reason is arithmetic rather than principle. A run of stop-losses is a normal part of the plan, so you need enough capital left to trade on the sixth day. At smaller sizes the fixed subscription fee also eats too large a share of the account before a single trade happens.
Do I have to share my demat or trading account?
No. Calls arrive with the entry, the target and the stop-loss, and you place the order yourself, in your own account, with your own broker. No login, no password, no account linking, no remote access. Treat a request for your trading credentials or an OTP as a reason to stop, whoever is asking.
Where can I read reviews of a stock advisory service?
There is no review site for this category worth trusting, and a registered analyst publishing praise about their own results would be breaking the advertisement code. The checkable substitutes are all public: the SEBI register, the exchange enlistment, and the complaint data every registered analyst has to publish every month.
How do I check a SEBI registration number online?
Open SEBI's register, type the number into the search box rather than scrolling the list, and read the record it returns. You are checking three things: that the number resolves at all, that the name matches whoever you are dealing with, and that the record is current. A certificate image proves only that somebody owns an image editor.
What happens if I want to cancel my subscription?
At Potoos you can cancel at any point in the term. The amount used to the date of your request is deducted on a pro rata basis and the balance is refunded to the account you paid from. Before paying anyone, ask for the cancellation terms in writing, because most services in this category do not publish them.
Read the verification guide first, and run it on us before you run it on anyone else. Search INH000027380 on SEBI's register and check that the name and city match this site. Everything else on this page matters less than that one check.
Some of these answers are published in Tamil as well. Read the Tamil pages.