Sebi may allow OBPPs to offer Gift City products, tax-saving bonds

Sebi May Expand OBPP Permissions

The Securities and Exchange Board of India is examining whether Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPPs) should be permitted to distribute products linked to GIFT City as well as tax-saving bonds. The development was reported on 5 May 2026. Separately, the regulator is weighing a change to the way compliance officers of OBPPs are appointed, with a view to aligning those norms with the framework that already applies to other stock brokers.

OBPPs are online platforms that facilitate investment in listed debt securities. Until now, their permitted product suite has been relatively narrow. Allowing them to offer GIFT City products and tax-saving bonds would mark a meaningful widening of that scope, potentially reshaping how retail and non-retail investors access these instruments through digital channels.

Why This Matters For Businesses

For OBPP operators, an expanded product basket could open new revenue lines and deepen engagement with existing users. Platforms that currently compete largely on listed bond inventory may be able to differentiate through GIFT City offerings, which sit within India's international financial services centre framework, and through tax-saving bonds that carry specific investor incentives.

For compliance teams, the second proposal is equally significant. Aligning the appointment criteria for OBPP compliance officers with those applicable to other stock brokers would bring the intermediary category closer to the mainstream broking regulatory architecture. If adopted, this could standardise eligibility requirements, experience thresholds and approval processes across a wider set of market intermediaries, reducing the interpretive burden that arises when similar roles are governed by differing standards.

Distributors, advisers and fintech partners that plug into OBPP platforms should also track the change, since product expansion at the platform level often flows through to the wider distribution chain. Any …