The SEBI has issued a Circular No. HO/47/17/12(11)2025-MRD-POD3/I/11107/2026 Dated: 08/05/2026 with subject of “Norms for sharing and usage of price data for educational purposes”
The circular is basically, tightening the rules around how stock market price data can be displayed, shared, or used in educational content without becoming an unofficial market-data business.
Over the last few years, a lot of finance influencers, trading educators, algo-training platforms, telegram, discord communities, YouTube channels, mock trading apps, started using live or near-live exchange data from National Stock Exchange of India, BSE Limited, commodity exchanges (The ‘Exchanges’) without proper licensing. Many of them labeled these data themselves as “educational” while effectively distributing market data commercially.
The Exchanges complained because:
1. Real-time data is licensed intellectual property,
2. Redistribution affects exchange revenues,
3. Uncontrolled dissemination can create unfair access,
4. Some “education” setups were effectively advisory/trading operations.
This circular draws a thick line between genuine education and commercial dissemination of exchange data.
In essence the educational use of price data should only be allowed under controlled conditions and cannot become a substitute for licensed market-data distribution.
Main provisions of circular are:
1. Delayed data is preferred for education
Educational platforms are expected to use delayed data, historical data, end-of-day data, instead of unrestricted real-time feeds. The intent is to reduce the misuse of live feeds, avoid creating shadow terminals/channels.
2. Real-time exchange data cannot be freely redistributed
If an educator/platform is streaming live prices, showing live option chains, broadcasting tick-by-tick data, sharing live feeds in communities, they may now require:
- exchange authorization,
- proper market-data agreements,
- vendor licensing.
This directly impacts trading academies, Discord groups, Telegram signal communities, browser-based simulators, prop-training setups.
3. “Educational purpose” cannot mask commercial activity
SEBI is targeting situations where firms say “For educational purposes only” while charging subscriptions, selling mentorships, running live trading rooms, monetizing data access.
The circular effectively says: disclaimer ≠ exemption. If users are getting functional market access/value, exchanges may treat it as commercial redistribution.
4. Restrictions on onward sharing
Entities receiving licensed data, likely they cannot further redistribute it, cannot expose APIs casually, cannot stream it publicly, cannot enable scraping/rebroadcasting.
This matters for fintech startups, algo communities, API-based educator dashboards.
5. Exchanges get stronger enforcement authority
Exchanges may: audit usage, classify misuse, demand licensing, cut off feeds, impose penalties/fees.
Who gets impacted most:
| High Impact | Moderate Impact | Low Impact |
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Likely operational changes, the Platforms may:
- switch to 15-minute delayed feeds
- blur live market depth
- limit API access
- remove real-time option chain broadcasting
- require login/KYC
- geo-restrict feeds
- add exchange attribution
- buy formal exchange licenses
Bigger picture: This is part of SEBI’s broader push to:
- regulate finance influencers,
- formalize retail market infrastructure,
- tighten exchange-data monetization,
- control pseudo-advisory ecosystems.
It also aligns more closely with US exchange-data licensing models, European market-data controls.
The circular does not ban market education. It mainly says if you are using exchange price data as a product, business, or monetized service, then must comply with exchange licensing norms even if you call it “education.”
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