Sebi market data time lag set at 30 days for education and investor awareness from July 1

Sebi has changed rules on how stock price data gets used in education and investor awareness. The regulator set a single delay of 30 days for sharing and using price data. Sebi said the change aims to curb misuse of market data. Sebi also wanted lessons to stay useful for learners and retail investors.

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The new framework will apply from July 1, Sebi said in a circular. The update replaces a split system that used different delays. Sebi said the earlier approach mixed technical limits with content controls. The regulator now plans one common time gap for education-related use of market prices.

Sebi stock price data rules set 30-day lag

In May 2024, Sebi limited live market data sharing by stock exchanges. Sebi allowed live data only for trading and related activities. For education and awareness programmes, Sebi allowed sharing only with a one-day delay. Sebi said the move was meant to reduce misuse of live market information.

Sebi tightened the framework again in January 2025 for education-only entities. Sebi required such entities to use market data only with a three-month lag. Sebi treated this as a safeguard for content. Sebi aimed to ensure the material stayed educational and not trading-focused.

Under the earlier system, educational institutes faced two different delays. Institutes could access price data with a one-day delay to prepare content. However, institutes could use only three-month-old data in classes. The same older data rule applied to material shared through any medium.

Sebi explained why the two lags existed in the earlier structure. The one-day delay served a technical requirement for market infrastructure bodies. It also applied to intermediaries using such feeds. The three-month delay worked as a content control. Sebi said it helped keep the material purely educational.

"Based on feedback received from various stakeholders that the lag of one day for sharing of price data is very short and there is possibility of mis-use of the same, and lag of three months for usage of the price data being too long for educational purposes;... it has been decided to prescribe a time lag of 30 days for both sharing and usage of price data for educational purposes, Sebi said.\"

Sebi stock price data access for NISM simulation lab

Sebi also set a separate allowance for the National Institute of Securities Markets NISM. Sebi said NISM is a capacity building initiative of Sebi. Sebi added that NISM runs training and certification programmes. Sebi said NISM also trains Sebis officers and market intermediaries. NISM will keep one-day-lag access for its simulation lab.

The 30-day lag now becomes the standard for educational and awareness activity content. Sebi said the approach balances relevance with controls against misuse. From July 1, entities using price data for education must follow the updated delay. NISM remains an exception only for simulation lab use under the one-day rule.

With inputs from PTI