Sebi Proposes 30-Day Time Lag To Curb Misuse Of Live Market Price Data

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on January 6 proposed a uniform time lag of 30 days for both sharing and usage of price data of listed companies for educational purposes and awareness activities.

The market regulator aims to strike a balance between preventing misuse of real-time market data and ensuring that educational content remains relevant and effective.

Why Real-Time Market Data Sharing Came Under Sebi’s Scanner

Sebi’s proposal comes after a series of regulatory steps aimed at curbing the misuse of real-time market data by online gaming platforms, apps, and websites. In a circular issued on May 24, 2024, the regulator made it clear that “no real-time price data is shared with any third party, including various platforms”, unless such sharing is necessary for the orderly functioning of the securities market or to meet regulatory requirements.

For investor education and awareness activities, Sebi allowed the sharing of price data only with a time lag of one day. The intention was to prevent real-time data from being used for speculative or gaming-like activities under the guise of education.

In another circular dated January 29, 2025, the market watchdog further added that price data used for investor education and awareness activities should have a time lag of three months.

Sebi explained that a key factor separating investor education from advice or recommendations is the kind of market data used to create the content. It noted that “using live data for educational purposes is clearly outside the scope of pure educational activity as it involves analyzing current data to predict future prices, which falls under the definition of Investment Advisory (IA) / Research Analyst (RA) activity.”

Under the revised framework, market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) and intermediaries were allowed to share price data with a minimum one-day lag for the purpose of preparing educational material. However, educators could use only price data that was at least three months old while teaching or publishing content. Any deviation from this, Sebi cautioned, could result in the activity being treated as investment advisory or research analyst activity.

Why Sebi Felt There’s A Need For Review

Sebi said it received feedback from stakeholders that a one-day lag for sharing price data was “too short” and could still leave room for misuse. At the same time, internal discussions within the regulator flagged concerns that a three-month lag for using such data was “too long” and could make educational content outdated and less effective.

In the consultation paper published on January 6, Sebi observed that investor education would be more meaningful if the time lag were shortened, while still ensuring adequate safeguards against the misuse of exchange data.

What Sebi Proposed

Taking these factors into account, Sebi proposed that “a uniform lag of 30 days for both sharing and usage of price data may be made applicable for educational and awareness activities.” The regulator further clarified that entities engaged solely in education would continue to follow the list of prohibited activities set out in the January 2025 circular, and that all other provisions of the earlier circulars would remain unchanged.

Sebi has invited public comments by January 27 on whether stakeholders agree with the proposed 30-day lag, whether any additional safeguards should be built in while sharing such data, and on any other aspects of the consultation paper.