Investor Charter for Research Analysts: What SEBI Requires and Where to Publish It

The investor charter for research analysts

Every SEBI-registered Research Analyst must follow the Investor Charter that SEBI specifies. Since 10 February 2025 this is a regulation, not just a circular: Regulation 24(9) of the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014 says an RA "shall ensure compliance with the Investor Charter specified by the Board from time to time". The current charter was issued by SEBI's circular of 2 June 2025 and is now Annexure D of the Master Circular for Research Analysts dated 6 February 2026.

So an RA has two duties: publish the charter so clients know about it, and run the practice the way the charter says. This guide covers both.

What the charter contains

The charter has six parts. You publish SEBI's text; you do not rewrite it. Take the wording from Annexure D of the master circular.

Where to publish it

SEBI has told RAASB (BSE) to advise RAs to bring the charter to the notice of existing and new clients by:

Most new RA websites already carry a charter page. Check that yours is the June 2025 version. Older versions described a different escalation path and miss the newer rights, such as the right to be told about the extent of AI use and the right against one-sided clauses.

Adding your own details

The charter text is standard, but investors need your details to act on it. Next to the charter, publish:

• Your name as registered with SEBI, and SEBI registration number.
• The name, email and phone number of your compliance and grievance officer, and of the proprietor, partner or CEO.
• The SCORES link (scores.sebi.gov.in), RAASB's grievance email and the SMART ODR link (smartodr.in).
• Your service timelines: when reports and updates are delivered and how fast you reply to queries. The charter gives investors a right to know them.

Grievance redressal: get the timelines right

Many older charter pages and blog posts describe a three-step path of RA, then BSE, then SEBI SCORES, with a 3-day acknowledgement. That is not what the current charter says. The current path is:

1. The RA, who should redress the grievance immediately and not later than 21 days from receipt.
2. SCORES 2.0, or an email to RAASB's designated address. On SCORES there is a two-level review: RAASB first, then SEBI.
3. SMART ODR, for online conciliation or arbitration if the investor is still not satisfied.

Your MITC adds one more timeline. Service grievances raised with your designated person, such as a report not received, should be resolved within 7 business working days. For the full process, see our guide to handling SCORES complaints.

The charter's companion: monthly complaint data

The same section of the master circular requires every RA to publish complaint data on its website and app by the 7th of each month, in the format in Annexure E. The table shows complaints received directly, through SCORES and from other sources, with pending, received, resolved, pending over three months and average resolution time, plus a year-to-date trend table and a count of complaints caused by impersonation. Publish it every month, including months with no complaints, and link it from your charter page. Our monthly complaint data guide has the format and a template.

Living up to the charter

Publishing the charter is the easy part. These are the promises in it that RAs most often fail to keep:

• KYC and terms before service. The charter lists sharing terms and completing KYC of fee-paying clients as part of onboarding. See KYC before payment and MITC for research analysts.
• Distribution without discrimination. Every subscriber on a plan should get a recommendation at the same time. Manual forwarding to different groups breaks this.
• Disclosure of AI use. If you use AI tools in your research, say to what extent.
• Fair and true advertisement. No assured returns and no unverified performance claims. See SEBI social media rules for RAs.
• Records of interactions with clients and prospects where research services were discussed.
• Annual audit. The charter says the RA conducts an annual audit, and the auditor will check your charter and complaint data. See the compliance audit checklist.

A quick check of your charter page

• Is it the June 2025 text, with all six parts?
• Is it one click from your homepage and in your app?
• Are your grievance officer's details current, and does the email actually get answered?
• Does it describe the 21-day, SCORES 2.0 and SMART ODR path, not an older one?
• Is this month's complaint data published and linked?
• Do new clients receive it during onboarding, and did existing clients get it by email?

AlphaQuark builds the charter and MITC into onboarding, with KYC and e-sign before payment, sends each recommendation to every subscriber on a plan at once, and keeps a dated record of every recommendation and message. See the RA platform.