The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been nudging brokerage firms to join its initiative on past return verification, as the participation from broking side remains tepid despite the operationalisation in May, amid concerns of high costs and low adoption, according to sources.
The initiative called Past Risk and Return Verification Agency (PaRRVA) was approved last year and has been operationalised with Care Ratings as the verification agency and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as the PaRRVA data centre.
The agency is tasked at independently verifying the historical risk and return metrics of market intermediaries, such as research analysts, investment advisors, and algo providers. Once verified, the intermediaries can show their performance to their clients.
So far only four qualified stock brokers—or brokers with large presence—have enrolled on the platform. Sources added that the total participation across intermediaries is around 360, including over 250 research analysts and around 110 investment advisors.
For comparison, there are around 2270 registered research analysts and 1048 investment advisors, as of October 11, according to Sebi data.
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While the platform was operationalised in May, the commercial reportings were rolled out in September, sources said.
With adoption remaining tepid since the platform’s operationalisation, sources said Sebi has been encouraging brokerages to participate more actively.
Sources added that algo-providers are also yet to enroll on PaRRVA.
“We believe everything about this platform is great, except its cost,” said an industry participant, who did not wish to be named. “The platform requires high amounts to be paid for these services every year, which may make the industry hesitant to participate,” they added.
Emailed queries to Sebi remained unanswered till the time of press.
According to the CarePaRRVA website, Groww, HDFC Securities, Angel One, and SMC Global are the QSBs which have been onboarded so far.
QSBs offering investment advisory or research analyst services could either pay a fixed charge of Rs 1 crore a year or pay according to usage with Rs 12.5 lakh for one recommendation each in portfolio, rebalance, single stocks, derivatives, and intraday calls.
The cost for a trading member is Rs 40 lakh annually or Rs 5 lakh per recommendation, with prices lower for members with lesser number of clients.
“Since the commercial launch on 4th May 2026, onboarding on the PaRRVA platform has remained robust. Sebi has been highly supportive of the industry’s efforts to join the platform, recognising that wider adoption will strengthen transparency and benefit the entire ecosystem,” said Pankaj D Prasade, Director and Head, PaRRVA, CARE Ratings.
Under the framework, advisers and analysts are required to register on the platform and route their investment calls through it during a 90-day ‘cooling-off’ period.
Following this, verified performance metrics can be displayed on the platform as well as on the advisers’ and analysts’ own platforms.
Given that brokerages have multiple analysts making recommendations across intraday, short-term and long-term trading strategies, as well as fundamental, technical and derivatives-based calls, their participation in PaRRVA could help improve transparency in the equity markets.
In a circular issued in late April, Sebi had said investment advisers (IAs) and research analysts (RAs) wishing to communicate certified past performance data to clients, including prospective clients, must enroll with PaRRVA within three months of its operationalisation.
Those who fail to do so would not be permitted to communicate certified past performance data to clients after the three-month period.
The regulator has also stipulated that, two years after PaRRVA’s operationalisation, IAs and RAs will be permitted to communicate or display only PaRRVA-verified risk and return metrics. They will no longer be allowed to use past performance data relating to the period before the platform’s operationalisation in communications with clients, including prospective clients.