In its May 2024 circular, SEBI restricted the sharing of live exchange data exclusively to trading and related activities, and mandated a one-day time lag for its use in educational and awareness initiatives to prevent misuse
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HEMANSHI KAMANI
A few days ago, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) released an important consultation proposal regarding the sharing of price data for investor education and awareness initiatives.
In recent years, the market regulator has adopted a progressively liberal approach on this matter. It currently permits stock exchanges and market intermediaries to share price data for purely educational purposes, subject to a one-day lag, for entities whose activities are exclusively focused on investor education.
In its May 2024 circular, SEBI restricted the sharing of live exchange data exclusively to trading and related activities, and mandated a one-day time lag for its use in educational and awareness initiatives to prevent misuse. Subsequently, in its January 2025 order, SEBI further tightened the framework by specifying that entities engaged solely in educational activities may access such data only with a three-month delay.
Overlap with Its
However, SEBI has expressed concern that using live or near-real-time market data under the pretext of “education” can easily blur the line and effectively turn into de facto investment advice or research analysis — activities strictly regulated under the frameworks for Investment Advisers (IA) and Research Analysts (RA). Airing concern, the recent consultation paper said, “using live data for educational purpose is clearly outside the scope of pure educational activity as it involves analysing current data to predict future prices, which falls under the definition of Investment Advisory (IA)/Research Analyst (RA) activity”.
So, the market regulator, has proposed a uniform 30-day time lag for sharing data for academic and educational purposes.
The move was based on stakeholder feedback which raised concerns at both ends of the spectrum that the one-day lag was too short and prone to misuse, while the three-month restriction made educational content stale and less effective. “It is felt that a time lag of 30 days for both sharing and usage of price data would suffice the purpose of protecting against misuse of exchange data as well as keeping the education content relevant,” SEBI said in a draft paper on Tuesday.
Persons engaged solely in education would still need to comply with prohibitions laid down in the January 2025 circular, including restrictions on activities that could be construed as advisory or recommendation-based.
Rampant mis-selling
This marks a step in the right direction by the market regulator, as under the guise of financial education, instances of individuals and institutions presenting themselves as “educators,” “trainers,” or “mentors” but in reality operating much like trading firms — have been on the rise.
While developed exchanges such as the NYSE offer historical market data products on a T+1 (one-day lag) basis, the domestic market has yet to reach a similar level of maturity, particularly in light of widespread mis-selling by “ghost” finfluencers. These actors readily exploit gullible investors, inducing them to risk their hard-earned life savings without a proper understanding of market dynamics. Consequently, the stakes are extremely high for all stakeholders, and the data reflects a sobering reality.
There are also worries that it will affect genuine academic activity. SEBI can keep the window open for genuine academicians on one-time basis with much higher deposit.
Published on January 9, 2026
