As India’s equity markets scale record highs and retail participation surges, a parallel ecosystem of illegal app-based dabba trading platforms is gaining traction, posing fresh risks to market integrity. Dabba trading is an illegal form of trading in securities without the trades actually being executed on SEBI recognised stock exchanges. These platforms replicate regulated trading infrastructure with sleek interfaces and real-time market feeds, yet operate entirely outside SEBI’s and official bourses’ oversight. Acting as sophisticated conduits for unregulated securities speculation, they are attracting thousands of retail investors and triggering alarm within regulatory corridors.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) recently flagged a shadow entity named Close Friends Traders, operating under the brand “Tradedost – India’s No.1 Trading Platform.” The platform falsely claimed NSE affiliation and offered illegal dabba trading services with guaranteed returns violating securities laws that strictly prohibit profit assurances.
Following investor complaints, NSE confirmed that Tradedost was neither registered nor compliant with exchange rules, and was operating illegally. The case has since been escalated to SEBI and enforcement agencies. The entity has been added to NSE’s Consolidated List of Fake Links, Apps, and Social Media Handles, which now includes over 300 such impersonators.
Despite 300 NSE Advisories, Offshore and Unregistered Brokerages Evade Crackdown
Authorities are pushing for a multi-agency crackdown on the growing menace, which threatens market transparency and investor safety. Despite NSE issuing more than 300 public advisories in the past 18 months, enforcement remains challenging. Many operators are based abroad or frequently shift digital identities, making real-time tracking difficult for Indian authorities.
“These platforms lure first-time investors with fake assurances. We escalate such cases to SEBI, cyber cells, and even to platforms like Google and Meta when impersonation is involved. But tracking them in real time remains a major challenge,” a senior NSE official said on the condition of anonymity.
Tier-2 and Tier-3 Investors Targeted via Social Media
This is not an isolated case. According to internal NSE assessments, a network of unregistered digital brokerages is operating under misleading names such as Zaloni Trading, Bull Rider Traders, and Future Nifty Calls. None of these entities are SEBI-licensed. Yet they remain active on Telegram groups, WhatsApp forwards, YouTube live streams, and mirror websites, targeting retail investors in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
Many of these entities circulate forged NSE registration certificates, fake SEBI emails, and cloned trading interfaces designed to mimic trusted platforms such as Zerodha and Upstox. These apps are often distributed via unauthorized APK files, installed outside official app stores, making them harder to detect or remove.
“These are not backroom operators with landlines and notebooks. These are digitally fluent rackets, running servers offshore, simulating trades in real time, and laundering money under the guise of trading apps,” said an enforcement officer involved in the probe.
ED Probes Offshore-Operated White-Label Platforms Linking Dabba Trading and Online Betting; Multiple Front-End Brands Under Scrutiny
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating a white-label network in which the core trading or betting infrastructure is operated from abroad, often in crypto-friendly jurisdictions, while local agents run branded front-ends under profit-sharing arrangements. This structure gives operators plausible deniability and complicates enforcement.
Some dabba platforms use Chrome extensions, cloned websites, or direct web interfaces to facilitate trading. The platforms simulate live trades based on real NSE or BSE data but settle transactions via cash or UPI linked to mule accounts or fake identities. No trade confirmations, no contract notes, and no tax records are ever generated, ensuring total regulatory invisibility.
ED investigators have identified platforms such as VMoney, VM Trading, Standard Trades Ltd, IBull Capital, LotusBook, 11Stars, and GameBetLeague as being under active scrutiny for allegedly facilitating both illegal dabba trading and online betting. They are suspected of sharing backend infrastructure, with both services functioning as different front-end “skins” of the same underlying system.
PMLA Probe Uncovers Pan-India Nexus; Raids Seize ₹3.3 Crore Cash, Luxury Assets
The probe suggests a growing convergence between these illicit activities, where dabba trading and online betting are increasingly intertwined, leveraging common laundering networks, encryption tools, and unregulated digital channels to bypass financial oversight.
The investigation, launched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR filed at Lasudiya Police Station in Indore,uncovered deep linkages between dabba trading, online betting, hawala networks, and cryptocurrency wallets. Recent raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Indore, and Ahmedabad seized Rs 3.3 crore in unaccounted cash, luxury watches, high-end vehicles, foreign currency, jewellery, cash-counting machines, and digital evidence. Agencies are mapping the financial trail, backend server data, and social media routing of these networks.
Agencies Trace Nexus Between Dabba Trading, Betting, Hawala And Crypto; SEBI Plans Stricter Fintech Compliance
The probe has revealed deep linkages between dabba trading, online betting, hawala networks, and cryptocurrency wallets, prompting authorities to label it a “converging threat” to financial integrity. Sources say agencies are now mapping the financial trail, backend server data, and social media routing of these operations. A coordinated crackdown is underway, with ED and cybercrime units also looped into the investigation.
Regulators and enforcement bodies are coordinating a crackdown. SEBI is expected to roll out stricter compliance measures for fintech apps, expand disclosure norms for financial influencers, and push tech platforms to take down non-compliant APK links and cloned websites.
