A compliance calendar you can keep for the whole year
Most RA compliance failures are not about difficult rules. They are about dates: the complaint table that was not updated on the 7th, the half-yearly report filed a week late, the audit report that reached RAASB in November. This calendar lists every recurring deadline for a SEBI-registered Research Analyst, with the paragraph of the SEBI Master Circular for Research Analysts (6 February 2026) it comes from, so you can check each one yourself.
It covers the financial year 2026–27 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). The rules are evergreen, so the same structure works every year. Use the free checklist below this article to track your own status.
The calendar at a glance
| Frequency | What | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Publish complaint data on your website and app | By the 7th of the following month | Master circular para 7.3, Annexure E |
| Half-yearly | Periodic report to RAASB for the half year ending 30 September | Within 30 days, so by 30 October | Para 29 |
| Half-yearly | Periodic report to RAASB for the half year ending 31 March | Within 30 days, so by 30 April | Para 29 |
| Half-yearly | Undertaking on the SaaS advisory (CERT-In) | Every half year | Para 8.4 and 30 |
| Annual | Revise the deposit if your client slab changed | By 30 April | Para 1.2(c) |
| Annual | Complete the compliance audit for the previous financial year | Within six months of year end, so by 30 September | Para 1.14 and 31 |
| Annual | Client-level segregation certificate (where applicable) | Within six months of year end, as part of the audit | Para 1.10(h) |
| Annual | Submit the audit report, and any adverse findings with action taken, to RAASB/SEBI | Within one month of the audit report, and no later than 31 October | Para 1.14(c) and 31 |
| Annual | Publish audit status and adverse findings on your website; give the audit report to clients | After the audit | Para 1.14(d) |
| Every 3 years | Renew NISM certification (NISM-Series-XV-B) | Before your certificate expires | Regulation 7; NISM |
| Every 5 years | Pay SEBI renewal fee and RAASB administrative fee | On renewal | Annexure I, FAQ 14; para 4.3 |
Monthly deadlines
Complaint data by the 7th
Every RA must publish data on complaints received and resolved, on its website and on its mobile app if it has one, by the 7th of the following month, in the format at Annexure E. This applies even in a month with no complaints: you publish a table of zeros. The table has three sources (directly from investors, SEBI SCORES and other sources), plus a monthly trend and an annual trend. Our complaint data format guide has a copy-paste template.
Complaints themselves
Complaints do not wait for a calendar. The investor charter at Annexure D says an RA should resolve a grievance immediately and not later than 21 days from receipt. The model terms and conditions at Annexure B ask RAs to resolve service grievances, such as a missing or unreadable report, within 7 business working days. SCORES complaints get a first review by RAASB and a second by SEBI. See our SCORES complaints guide.
Half-yearly deadlines
Periodic report to RAASB
Para 29 requires a periodic report for the half years ending 30 September and 31 March, filed within 30 days of each half year. RAASB notifies the format. The report includes your client numbers, and FAQ 34 of Annexure I says those numbers include non-fee-paying clients. For FY 2026–27 the dates are 30 October 2026 and 30 April 2027.
SaaS undertaking
Para 8 carries a CERT-In advisory about software-as-a-service tools that may move risk and compliance data outside India. RAs must report compliance with it every half year through an undertaking. Check the current RAASB format to see where this undertaking is captured.
Annual deadlines
30 April: deposit check
The deposit is set by the maximum number of clients you had on any day of the previous financial year: ₹1 lakh up to 150, ₹2 lakh for 151 to 300, ₹5 lakh for 301 to 1,000 and ₹10 lakh above that. If you moved up a slab, top up the lien-marked deposit by 30 April. More detail in our registration cost guide.
30 September: complete the compliance audit
Regulation 25(3) requires an annual audit of your compliance with the RA Regulations and SEBI circulars, done by a member of ICAI or ICSI, within six months of the end of the financial year. If you provide model portfolios, the audit also covers the model portfolio guidelines (para 1.11(d)). The annual certificate on client-level segregation of research and distribution, where it applies, forms part of the audit.
31 October: submit and publish
Submit the compliance audit report to RAASB/SEBI within one month of the date of the audit report. Submit adverse findings, with action taken approved by you (or by management for a firm), within the same month and no later than 31 October. Then publish the status of the audit, and any adverse findings with action taken, on your website, and give the audit report to your clients. Our audit preparation guide walks through the evidence auditors ask for. The annual and half-yearly reporting guide covers the filings in more detail.
Multi-year deadlines
- NISM, every three years. The NISM-Series-XV certificate is valid for three years. Renew it with the XV-B renewal exam before it lapses. Client-facing staff who are "associated with research services" also need the relevant NISM certification. See our NISM guide.
- Registration renewal, every five years. SEBI's renewal fee covers each later five-year period, alongside RAASB's administrative fee.
- Fee limit, every three years. RAASB revises the ₹1,51,000 per family per year fee limit once in three years based on the Cost Inflation Index, after consulting SEBI (para 1.9(b)). Watch for the revision and update your terms and MITC if it changes.
Standing obligations that apply every day
These have no date, but they are what the auditor checks:
- Terms before fees. No research service and no fee until the client has consented to your terms and conditions, including the MITC (para 1.12). See what your agreement and MITC must contain.
- KYC for every fee-paying client (para 1.13).
- Records for five years: interactions with clients and prospects, research reports with their rationale, and every advertisement.
- Advertisements follow the advertisement code (para 11). It requires prior approval from the SEBI-recognised supervisory body before issue, so build that lead time into any campaign.
- Fees: within the ₹1,51,000 per family per year limit for individual and HUF clients; advance fees for at most one year if the client agrees; proportionate refund on early termination; no breakage fee (para 1.9).
- AI disclosure: tell clients how far you use AI tools in your research services (para 1.7).
- Investor charter on your website and app, and shared at onboarding (para 7).
Dated items from 2026 that still matter
A few items from earlier in 2026 have passed their deadline but still shape what you can do this year:
- PaRRVA. The Past Risk and Return Verification Agency has been live since May 2026. Under para 23 of the master circular, RAs that wanted to communicate certified past performance had to enrol with PaRRVA within three months of it going live. Performance for the period after PaRRVA went live can only be advertised or shared using PaRRVA-verified metrics. Two years after it went live, only PaRRVA-verified metrics may be used at all. See our PaRRVA explainer.
- Model portfolio guidelines had to be in place by 30 June 2025, and they are now part of every audit.
- Algo-linked offerings. If any part of your service touches automated execution for retail clients, check it against the retail algo trading rules.
- Digital accessibility. SEBI's 2025 circulars on accessibility apply to RAs. See our accessibility guide.
How to keep the calendar running
Put every date above into a shared calendar with a reminder seven days earlier. Keep one folder per financial year with the monthly complaint tables, the two periodic reports, the audit report and the deposit statement. Most of the evidence for these filings comes from your day-to-day records, so it helps to keep subscriber agreements, KYC, payments and recommendations in one system. AlphaQuark keeps KYC, MITC consent, payments, delivery and dated recommendation records together for SEBI-registered RAs; see the RA platform. For the wider rule set, read our master circular summary.
Keep the records your compliance calendar depends on
AlphaQuark records KYC, MITC consent, payments and every recommendation with a timestamp, so the evidence for your audit and periodic reports is already in one place.
See plansFrequently Asked Questions
When must a Research Analyst publish monthly complaint data?
By the 7th of the following month, on the RA's website and mobile app (if any), in the format at Annexure E of SEBI's Master Circular for Research Analysts. A month with no complaints still needs a published table showing zeros.
What is the deadline for the RA annual compliance audit?
The audit must be completed within six months of the end of the financial year, so by 30 September for a year ending 31 March. The audit report must reach RAASB/SEBI within one month of the report date, and adverse findings with action taken must be submitted no later than 31 October.
When is the RA half-yearly periodic report due?
For the half years ending 30 September and 31 March, within 30 days of each half year, so by 30 October and 30 April. The report goes to RAASB in the format RAASB notifies.
When do I need to increase my RA deposit?
The deposit is based on the maximum number of clients on any day of the previous financial year. If that number moves you into a higher slab (151, 301 or 1,001 clients), revise the deposit by 30 April of the next financial year.
How often must an RA renew NISM certification?
The NISM-Series-XV certificate is valid for three years. Renew it by passing the NISM-Series-XV-B renewal exam before the certificate expires.