How do I pay a SEBI-registered Research Analyst safely?

Three checks before money moves: who you are paying, where the money is going, and what you agreed to.

Published 3 November 2026 · Potoos Research Services

Step one: check who you are paying

Before you look at any payment details, check the person. Open SEBI's register of Research Analysts and search the registration number you were given. The name and the city on SEBI's record should match the website, the invoice and the person on the phone. Our guide How to check that a Research Analyst is actually registered shows every click.

A registered number only proves the analyst exists. It does not prove that the account in a chat message belongs to that analyst. That is the next check.

Step two: check where the money is going

SEBI runs a free tool called SEBI Check. SEBI announced it was live on 1 October 2025, in Press Release No. 64/2025. It lets you confirm that a UPI ID, or a bank account number with its IFSC, belongs to a SEBI-registered intermediary. It works whether you pay by UPI or by NEFT, RTGS or IMPS. You can open it at siportal.sebi.gov.in/intermediary/sebi-check or in SEBI's Saarthi app.

SEBI's own words are direct: it “strongly urges all individual investors to verify the authenticity of the bank account details at ‘SEBI Check’ when making payments to SEBI-registered investor-facing intermediaries.”

What a validated UPI ID looks like

Since 1 October 2025, SEBI-registered intermediaries that collect money from investors have a special kind of UPI ID. SEBI set this up in circular SEBI/HO/DEPA-II/DEPA-II_SRG/P/CIR/2025/86, dated 11 June 2025. Every such intermediary must obtain one and offer it to investors. Using it is optional for you, but the circular adds a firm rule: if you choose UPI to pay a registered intermediary, you should pay only to its new validated UPI ID.

Read the UPI ID in two halves, around the @ sign.

• Left of the @: a name the intermediary chose, then a short code for its type. For a Research Analyst the code is ra. SEBI's example for a broker is abc.brk, so a Research Analyst's would end in .ra.
• Right of the @: the word valid joined to a bank's name, such as @validhdfc or @validicici. These handles are issued by NPCI only for SEBI-registered intermediaries.
• On the payment screen: your UPI app should show a white thumbs-up inside a green triangle. The circular says the absence of this icon should warn you that you may be paying an unauthorised entity.

Bank transfers and cheques are still allowed. For those, put the account number and IFSC into SEBI Check before you pay.

Cash is not allowed, and keep a receipt

SEBI's Master Circular for Research Analysts, dated 6 February 2026, sets out the Most Important Terms and Conditions every analyst must show you. One of them reads: “Fees to RA may be paid by the client through any of the specified modes like cheque, online bank transfer, UPI, etc. Cash payment is not allowed.”

The investor charter in the same circular tells you to “Pay your Research Analyst through banking channels only and maintain duly signed receipts mentioning the details of your payments.”

The optional BSE route: CeFCoM

There is one more way to pay. It is called the Centralised Fee Collection Mechanism, or CeFCoM. You pay the fee through a platform run by BSE, which supervises Research Analysts for SEBI. SEBI says CeFCoM has worked since 1 October 2024 and is managed by BSE Ltd with MF Utilities India Pvt. Ltd.

It is optional. The master circular says analysts must give you guidance on it in their terms and should encourage clients to use it. The investor charter adds that you may pay through CeFCoM “if research analyst has opted for the mechanism”. So ask the analyst whether they have.

Agree to the terms before any fee is taken

The master circular says an analyst must make sure that “neither any research service is rendered nor any fee is charged until consent is received from the client on the terms and conditions.” So the order is fixed. You see the terms and the Most Important Terms and Conditions. You give consent. Only then do you pay.

Those terms carry the fee. For individual and Hindu Undivided Family clients, SEBI caps the fee at ₹1,51,000 per family per year, not counting statutory charges. If an invoice is above that, ask why before you pay.

Signs that you should not pay

• The UPI ID is a personal handle sent in a chat, with no .ra before the @ and no @valid after it.
• SEBI Check does not confirm the UPI ID or the account as belonging to a SEBI-registered intermediary.
• The name your payment app shows for the account does not match the name on SEBI's register.
• You are asked to pay in cash, or to pay before you have seen and accepted the terms.
• You are asked for your trading, demat or bank login, or an OTP. The Most Important Terms and Conditions say an analyst shall never ask for these.
• You are asked to send money for the analyst to invest for you. The investor charter says: “Do not provide funds for investment to the Research Analyst.”
• You are pushed by a limited-period discount or a gift. The investor charter tells you not to be attracted by these.

How to check this yourself

1. Check the registration

   Open SEBI's register of Research Analysts. Type the registration number into the search box. Read the name and city. They must match the website you are on.

2. Open SEBI Check

   On your phone or computer, open siportal.sebi.gov.in/intermediary/sebi-check. You will see options to check a UPI ID, by typing it or by using a photo of the QR code, and to check account details for a bank transfer.

3. Type in the payment details exactly

   Type the UPI ID, or the account number and IFSC, exactly as the analyst gave them. If SEBI Check does not confirm them, stop. Do not pay.

4. Look at the payment screen before you tap Pay

   In your UPI app, check for .ra and @valid in the UPI ID, and the white thumbs-up in a green triangle. If either is missing, stop and ask.

5. Save the proof

   Take a screenshot of the payment confirmation. Ask for a receipt that names you, the amount and the date. Keep a copy of the terms you agreed to.

How you pay Potoos Research Services

This page is published by Potoos Research Services about itself.

Potoos Research Services is a SEBI-registered Research Analyst, Vinoth Kumar S, INH000027380, Chennai. Before you pay us, search INH000027380 on SEBI's register and match the name and the city to this site. Then reach us through the contact details on the register and confirm the payment account. Run that account through SEBI Check too.

The full terms are shown at signup, and you agree there to the Most Important Terms and Conditions before the subscription starts. If you cancel during your term, the balance is refunded to the account you paid from. Prices are published on our homepage. See the plans.

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