Anyone who opens a stock broker’s website in India from 5 October will be shown messages supplied by the market regulator itself. Under Project Jagrook, SEBI’s investor awareness initiative, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has told all stock brokers to display “investor awareness message(s)” it shares with them, first on their websites and, from 1 November, on the landing pages of their trading apps.
The requirement is set out in a SEBI circular dated 1 October 2026, addressed to stock exchanges, depositories and brokers. SEBI says the messages are meant “for the benefit, safety, and education of investors” and links the move to the upcoming World Investor Week 2026.
The timeline
The circular sets two phases.
| Period | Broker websites | Trading apps |
|---|---|---|
| 5–31 October 2026 | Must show SEBI’s messages and the existing risk disclosures | May show SEBI’s messages voluntarily; on such days the risk disclosures are optional |
| From 1 November 2026 | Must show SEBI’s messages on the landing page | Must show SEBI’s messages and the risk disclosures on alternate days, with the messages on the landing page |
Source: SEBI circular HO/38/24/(15)2026-MIRSD-PODMMC/I/22872/2026, 1 October 2026.
SEBI has not published the wording of the messages in the circular. It says they are “shared by SEBI” and “may be modified from time to time”, so the content can change without a fresh circular.
What the existing risk disclosures say
The new messages sit alongside a requirement that has applied since a SEBI circular of 19 May 2023, which made brokers show risk disclosures on trading in equity futures and options. Those disclosures state that 9 out of 10 individual traders in the equity F&O segment incurred net losses, that loss-makers lost close to ₹50,000 on average, and that they spent a further 28% of their net trading losses on transaction costs. The figures come from a SEBI study of FY 2021-22 trading data, dated 25 January 2023.
The 1 October circular leaves all other provisions of the 2023 circular unchanged. What changes for app users from November is the rotation: on one day the landing page carries SEBI’s awareness message, on the next the F&O risk disclosure.
What exchanges and depositories must do
Stock exchanges and depositories have to inform their members, publish the circular on their own websites, display SEBI’s awareness messages “as it is” on those websites, and amend their bye-laws, rules and regulations to implement it. SEBI issued the circular under section 11(1) of the SEBI Act, 1992.
For an investor, nothing needs to be done. The practical point is that a notice on a broker’s landing page attributed to SEBI under this circular is a regulatory requirement, not the broker’s marketing.
Questions
What is Project Jagrook?
SEBI describes it as its nationwide investor awareness initiative. Under the 1 October 2026 circular, it now reaches investors through broker websites and trading apps.
When will the messages appear in trading apps?
Brokers may show them voluntarily from 5 October. From 1 November 2026, apps must show SEBI’s messages and the F&O risk disclosures on alternate days.
Who writes the messages?
SEBI shares them with brokers, and they may be changed from time to time. Exchanges and depositories must display them as they are.
