The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have issued warnings to investors regarding the risks of using unregistered online bond platform providers [1, 2].
These advisories come as India's bond market expands rapidly, attracting more retail investors who may be vulnerable to fraud or operational failures if they use unregulated fintech intermediaries [2, 3].
The BSE issued a specific caution on Nov. 26, 2025, urging investors to conduct due diligence [1]. "Investors are advised to verify the registration status of any online bond platform before investing," the BSE said [1].
To mitigate these risks, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced a regulatory framework for online bond platform providers in November 2022 [3, 5]. According to SEBI, there are currently 18 registered providers operating under this framework [5].
While regulators focus on safety, industry leaders highlight the market's momentum. Vishal Goenka, co-founder of India Bonds, said India's bond market grew by 10% in the last financial year [4]. He also said that state development loans grew by 15% during the same period [4].
Data on the total market size varies by sector. Goenka cited the bond market at Rs 2.6 lakh crore [4]. However, other data regarding the corporate bond market specifically shows a larger scale, reaching ₹53.6 lakh crore in FY2025, up from ₹17.5 lakh crore in FY15 [2].
The joint advisory from the NSE and BSE emphasizes that using registered platforms ensures that investor protections, established by the SEBI framework, are actually enforced [2, 3].
“"Investors are advised to verify the registration status of any online bond platform before investing."”
The tension between rapid fintech adoption and regulatory oversight is surfacing in India's debt markets. As the corporate bond market grows—increasing more than threefold since FY15—the entry of retail investors creates a systemic need for standardized intermediaries. The push for registration is an attempt to prevent a widespread collapse of confidence that could occur if a major unregistered platform fails.
