SEBI Drops Further Action against Equicom Financial Research, Says Six-year Market Ban Already in Place

Moneylife Digital Team 25 September 2025

Investor Interest

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has closed proceedings against Equicom Financial Research Pvt Ltd and its directors, Amit Kukda and Akhilesh Raghuvanshi, over unresolved investor complaints, stating that no additional punitive action was warranted since the firm and its promoters are already barred from the securities market for six years.

Equicom, a SEBI-registered investment adviser, came under the regulator’s scanner following a series of investor complaints alleging misconduct and violations of the SEBI Act, 1992 and the Investment Advisers Regulations, 2013. Acting on these findings, SEBI had passed an ex-parte interim order on 21 January 2020, restraining the firm and its directors from accessing the market. This was followed by a final order on 19 April 2021 which imposed a three-year ban and directed Equicom to resolve all pending grievances within a stipulated time.

Under the April 2021 order, Equicom was required to address investor complaints recorded on SEBI’s SCORES platform within 30 days and furnish a compliance report certified by a chartered accountant (CA) within three months. The regulator had also warned that failure to comply would invite an additional three-year debarment.

When Equicom failed to resolve 12 pending complaints within the mandated period, SEBI initiated fresh enquiry proceedings against the company and its directors. A designated authority (DA) was appointed to review the matter and issued a show-cause notice to the noticees in September 2024. After considering their responses, the DA submitted its enquiry report in April 2025.

The DA observed that while Equicom had indeed defaulted on addressing the complaints within time, the scale of non-compliance was relatively limited, just 12 unresolved complaints out of nearly 12,000 clients, representing about 0.1% of the investor base. It also noted that there was no evidence of disproportionate gains or unfair enrichment. Importantly, Equicom and its directors were already serving a six-year debarment, with three years imposed under the 2021 order and a further three years triggered by the non-resolution of grievances.

Based on these findings, the DA recommended ‘no further action’ against these three, arguing that the existing punishment was sufficient. SEBI’s whole time member (WTM) Amarjeet Singh concurred with this assessment in his order dated 24 September 2025.

The order noted that forwarding the enquiry report to the three entities, as typically required under Regulation 27 of the Intermediaries Regulations, would ‘not have served any purpose’ given the DA’s recommendation and the ongoing debarment. He further recorded that Equicom’s registration as an investment adviser had lapsed due to non-payment of renewal fees. The SEBI order concluded that the proceedings against Equicom and its directors were being disposed without any further directions.

For Equicom, the order effectively ends the enquiry proceedings but leaves the company and its directors out of the securities market until the expiry of their debarment. With its registration also no longer valid, the firm cannot resume advisory operations unless it reapplies and obtains fresh registration after the ban period.

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