₹1.51 Lakh: The Most a SEBI Research Analyst Can Charge You
A SEBI-registered research analyst cannot charge an individual or HUF client more than ₹1,51,000 per family, per year, for research services.
The number
This is not a guideline. It is a limit set under the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, effective 8 January 2025, and research analysts were required to bring existing clients into line by 30 June 2025.
Statutory charges — GST and the like — sit outside the cap.
It is per family, not per person
This is the part almost everyone gets wrong, including some advisories.
SEBI’s regulations define the family of a client as the individual client, dependent spouse, dependent children and dependent parents.
So the ₹1,51,000 is the total for that whole group in a year. An advisory that sells one plan to you and a second plan to your spouse has not found a loophole — the two together still cannot exceed ₹1,51,000.
If you are being sold a “family pack” or a second account “in your wife’s name to get more calls”, check the total.
Why “lifetime” and multi-year plans do not work
A research analyst may not hold more than one year of fees in advance. Any advance beyond that had to be refunded by 30 June 2025.
This matters because the packages sold hardest are the long ones. A “lifetime membership”, a three-year plan, a ₹5 lakh one-time payment — none of these fit inside the rule for an individual client.
If someone is offering you one, you are either dealing with a firm that is not registered as a research analyst, or one that is registered and not following the fee rules. Neither is a good position for your money.
Who the cap does not cover
The limit applies to individual and HUF clients who are not accredited investors. It does not apply to:
- non-individual clients — companies, trusts, partnerships
- accredited investors
- institutional clients seeking proxy adviser recommendations
These can negotiate fees bilaterally. If you are an individual retail trader, none of these apply to you.
If you have already paid more
SEBI’s informal guidance is explicit that the cap applies to all individual and HUF clients, existing and new, regardless of when the agreement was signed.
If you paid more than ₹1,51,000 in a year, or paid more than a year in advance, you can ask for the excess back. The steps:
- Write to the analyst. Put the request in writing with the amounts and dates. Keep the reply.
- If there is no resolution in 21 days, escalate to the Research Analyst Administration and Supervisory Body (RAASB), administered by BSE.
- After that, SEBI SCORES at scores.sebi.gov.in, and then SMART ODR.
Before any of this, check that the firm is actually a registered research analyst. An unregistered tip provider is not bound by the fee cap because it should not be charging for research at all.
Where Scoutstack sits
Scoutstack Technical Research is a SEBI-registered Research Analyst (INH000006086). Our plans are priced within the ₹1,51,000 annual family limit, and we do not sell multi-year or lifetime packages.
Current pricing is on the plans page.
Frequently asked questions
Related reading
Sources
- SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations 2014, as amended (25 November 2025)
- SEBI Informal Guidance No. SEBI/HO/MIRSD-POD/P/OW/2025/25279/1 dated 24 September 2025 (to Equitymaster Research Pvt Ltd)
- TaxGuru — SEBI clarifies ₹1.51 lakh fee cap for research analysts
- Taxmann — SEBI guidance on RA fee cap for individual and HUF clients
See the full compliance & disclosures, learn how to verify a SEBI Research Analyst, or view the research plans.
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