Sebi mandates verified UPI handles for market payments from 1 October 2025

• 14 Jun 2025
• 421 Views

From 1 October 2025 onwards, all market intermediaries (including brokers, mutual funds and portfolio managers) will be required to use verified UPI IDs to collect payments from investors. This new decision by the Securities and Exchange Board of India intends to make transactions more secure.

As per SEBI’s circular issued on June 11, about 8,000 registered intermediaries will need to use standardized and verified UPI handles, issued through approved bank domains like @validhdfc. These IDs will be visibly marked with a green triangle and a thumbs-up symbol to help investors identify trusted payment handles.

Investors will still have the option to pay through NEFT, IMPS, and other methods, but if they choose UPI, they must use these verified handles.

SEBI Chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator’s aim is to “reduce payment frauds in securities transactions, assure investors that payments are going to verified entities, and standardize payment collection across market intermediaries.”

He added that SEBI had consulted all major stakeholder groups, including intermediary associations, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Self-Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSBs), before finalizing the decision.

Each intermediary will be assigned a unique UPI ID, built from a username (such as abc.brk for a broker) and a bank-verified handle (like @validhdfc).

SEBI Whole-Time Member Ananth Narayan G emphasized that it's up to investors to verify UPI IDs and intermediary bank details through a new feature called “SEBI Check” - a database for investors that will be launched soon.

Pandey stated that the 8,000 investor-facing intermediaries covered by the circular will have until December 8 to complete the switch, after which the older UPI handles will no longer be valid.

SEBI’s June 11 circular also clarified that only banks listed as self-certified syndicate banks can issue these @valid handles.

To help investors understand and adapt to the new system, SEBI will roll out a nationwide investor education campaign focused on cybersecurity and digital fraud awareness over the next two years. As Pandey said, “SEBI has the budget, means and intention to do it and we will carry it out.”