Starting October 1, stock market intermediaries like brokers, mutual funds, and portfolio managers will need to use standardised and verified UPI IDs to collect investor payments. The move, announced via a circular by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on June 11, is aimed at cutting down payment frauds and bringing uniformity across the market's payment ecosystem.
These new UPI handles won’t be your usual vague aliases. Instead, they’ll come with verified bank-linked suffixes such as @validhdfc and will be displayed alongside a green triangle and thumbs-up icon to confirm authenticity.
From brokers to portfolio managers, around 8,000 Sebi-registered intermediaries will need to adopt these verified UPI IDs by December 8, beyond which the old IDs will be phased out.
Investors won’t be forced to use UPI alone—NEFT, IMPS and other modes will continue to exist. But for those who choose UPI, this new system ensures that money actually reaches the right people. Each intermediary will have a unique handle, like abc.brk@validhdfc, with the backend powered by banks approved as Self-Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSBs).
The idea, as Sebi Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey puts it, is to “assure investors that payments are going to verified entities” and reduce chances of cyber fraud sneaking into the process.
To make it easier for investors, Sebi will soon roll out a tool called ‘Sebi Check’, a database that will allow users to cross-verify UPI IDs and bank details of any intermediary before making a transaction.
Ananth Narayan G, Sebi’s whole-time member, noted that while the new system puts the power in investors' hands, it also expects them to be cautious. The green tick and thumbs-up will help—but verifying via Sebi Check will be an added layer of protection.
The decision follows consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), intermediary associations, and the certified banks authorised to issue the ‘@valid’ handles.
Only banks listed as SCSBs will be permitted to generate these UPI suffixes, keeping the ecosystem tightly controlled and reducing the risk of fake payment identities.
Sebi plans to run investor awareness drives across the country over the next two years. The goal? Get people comfortable with identifying verified payment channels and spotting frauds before they happen. “Sebi has the budget, means and intention to do it and we will carry it out,” said Pandey.
With this move, India’s financial markets are taking a firmer stand on cybersecurity—without making it too complicated for investors.
