Ravindra Balu Bharti is the founder of Ravindra Bharti Education Institute.
Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken action against YouTuber Ravindra Balu Bharti and his company, Ravindra Bharti Education Institute, for operating an unregistered investment advisory business. According to a PTI report, SEBI barred the YouTube influencer and his firm from participating in the securities market until April 4, 2025, and ordered them to return Rs 9.5 crore, the amount earned through their "unlawful" activities. Additionally, the regulator also named three others, Shubhangi Ravindra Bharti, Rahul Ananta Gosavi and Dhanashri Chandrakant Giri, in the ban.
According to SEBI's investigation, Bharti and his firm targetted inexperienced investors by providing unregistered investment advice and trade recommendations. The YouTuber leveraged his social media reach, operating two YouTube channels with 10.8 lakh and 8.33 lakh subscribers, respectively, to promote the business.
The channels were allegedly used to influence the sale of multiple plans to the same clients, limit their input in trade decisions, fail to fully inform them about the risks and provide incomplete financial disclosures in agreements, violating fiduciary duties and IA regulations, the regulator's report said.
Based on this review, SEBI has directed Bharti and his company "to disgorge an amount of Rs 9.49 crore on a joint and several basis, along with simple interest at the rate of 6 per cent".
The YouTuber influencer, his company and three associates are "restrained from accessing the securities market and are further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities, directly or indirectly, or being associated with the securities market in any manner, whatsoever, till April 4, 2025".
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Additionally, they must stop offering investment advisory services or acting as investment advisors, including under the names "Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Private Limited" or "Ravindra Bharti Wealth", unless registered with SEBI.
The regulator has levied a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the five entities and another Rs 5 lakh on Ravindra Bharti Education Institute, Rahul Ananta Gosavi and Dhanashri Chandrakant Giri for the regulatory violations, it said.
Notably, Ravindra Balu Bharti is the founder of Ravindra Bharti Education Institute Pvt. Ltd. (RBEIPL), a company he co-founded in 2016 alongside his wife, Shubhangi Bharti. RBEIPL reportedly engages in educational activities related to stock market trading, operating through a website titled "Bharti Share Market"