SEBI rolls out app badge
India’s securities regulator is introducing a ‘Verified’ label for stock‑trading apps on the Google Play Store to help curb fake investment platforms and boost user trust (the420.in). The move will place a visible badge on verified trading apps in Google’s store — a notable change for app discovery and user acquisition strategies in India (timesofindia.indiatimes.com).
SEBI formally launched the Verified App Label Initiative on March 25, 2026, under press release PR No. 20/2026 at an event chaired by SEBI chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey. (sebi.gov.in) Google Play has already assigned the verified badge to roughly 600 financial‑services and stock‑broker apps in India, according to Google and reporting at the launch. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) The badge is being applied initially only to apps offered by intermediaries registered with SEBI, with SEBI saying the label will be extended to other regulated intermediaries thereafter. (sebi.gov.in) SEBI told Parliament and platform partners it has escalated about 133,000 pieces of misleading investment‑related content and has flagged roughly 66 fake trading apps that have been removed from app stores. (cnbctv18.com) An API‑based framework is already in place to prevent unverified intermediaries from running ads on platforms such as Google and Meta, and SEBI said it will sign coordination agreements with the ministry of electronics and IT within a month. (medianama.com) SEBI highlighted its in‑house AI tool ‘Sudarshan’, which the regulator says has helped remove more than 120,000 misleading finfluencer posts, and Google Play managing director Aditya Swamy participated in the launch and signalled Google’s support for the rollout. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) SEBI also promoted a CVV verification routine—“Check, Validate, Verify”—pointing investors to the SEBI Check feature in the SaaRthi app as a way to confirm bank accounts and UPI handles used by registered intermediaries. (sebi.gov.in)
