Quick Summary
5 Circles is a SEBI registered Research Analyst practice led by Rahul Saraoge, under registration number INH000020004, operating from both Mumbai and Kanpur. It runs two separate live websites, 5circles.co.in and 5circles.co, both citing the same registration and the same “Stride” product line. One of its paid services, Stride Cryptovate, offers crypto trade calls, a category that sits outside what a SEBI RA registration actually covers. This guide covers the registration, both websites, pricing, and how to file a complaint if your experience did not match what was promised.
Before subscribing to any advisory service, checking 5 Circles‘ actual regulatory scope matters as much as checking whether it holds a registration number at all.
5 Circles runs a considerably larger operation than many firms in this space, with two active websites, a structured course business, and services stretching from equity research into commodities and crypto.
This guide looks at what its SEBI registration actually permits, what both its websites show, and where the gaps are.
5 Circles Private Limited
5 Circles is operated by 5 Circles Private Limited, CIN U74999MH2021PTC355742, incorporated in 2021, with its registered office at Express Zone Mall, Malad East, Mumbai, and a second operational address in Govind Nagar, Kanpur.
The practice is led by Rahul Saraoge, who is described as NISM-certified and a CMT Level III candidate.
With both a company registration and a named individual behind it, you can verify either detail directly on public records before you commit to any of its paid services.
Is 5 Circles SEBI Registered?
Yes. 5 Circles is registered with SEBI as a Research Analyst under registration number INH000020004.
Per SEBI’s own intermediary record, the registration is held by 5 Circles Private Limited, with validity listed as March 6, 2025, Perpetual, meaning the registration does not carry a fixed expiry date the way many RA registrations do.
The registered address on file is G 22, Express Zone Mall, A Wing, Next to Patel Vanika, W E Highway, Malad East, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400063, with a correspondence address at First Floor Premises No 124 244 C Block, Plot No 245, Govind Nagar, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208006.
The listed contact person is Rahul Sarawagi, with the official contact email recorded as [email protected] and a listed phone number of 009163874972.
Worth flagging directly: this is the third distinct spelling of the founder’s name across sources reviewed for this page, after “Saraoge” on 5circles.co.in and “Sarawgi” on 5circles.co’s own metadata.
Since this spelling comes from SEBI’s own registration record, it is the version most likely to be accurate, and investors verifying the registration independently should search using this spelling first.
This registration confirms 5 Circles can legally publish research and share buy, sell, and hold recommendations on securities.
It does not automatically extend to every service the firm markets, a point covered in more detail below.
Why Does 5 Circles Have Two Different Websites?
Investors researching this firm will find two separate, currently active websites: 5circles.co.in and 5circles.co.
Both reference the same SEBI registration number and the same Stride product names, so they clearly belong to the same registered entity rather than being unconnected or copycat sites.
5circles.co.in carries the fuller set of mandatory disclosures, including a properly formatted monthly complaint disclosure, a disclaimer, disclosure page, investor charter, escalation matrix, and a SEBI-validated UPI payment ID for secure fee collection.
5circles.co is a newer, lighter marketing site describing itself as “Five Circles Education” and promoting courses, advisory, and financial planning tools, but with fewer of the same compliance pages easily visible.
One small inconsistency worth noting: the founder’s name appears as Rahul Saraoge on 5circles.co.in and Rahul Sarawgi in 5circles.co’s own site metadata, while SEBI’s own registration record lists the contact person as Rahul Sarawagi.
The SEBI record is the authoritative version, since neither website carries the same weight as the regulator’s own filing.
This is likely a spelling inconsistency rather than a sign of two different people, but before paying any fee, it is worth confirming you are dealing with registration number INH000020004 specifically, regardless of which of the two websites you arrived through.
Does 5 Circles’ Crypto Advisory Fall Under Its SEBI Registration?
This is the most important regulatory question for anyone considering 5 Circles’ full range of paid services.
Among its four Stride advisory products is Stride Cryptovate, which provides paid trade recommendations on digital assets like cryptocurrency.
A SEBI Research Analyst registration covers research and recommendations on securities as defined under Indian securities law.
Cryptocurrency is not classified as a security in India, which means it does not fall within what SEBI actually regulates or oversees through an RA registration.
This does not mean offering crypto calls is automatically illegal, but it does mean that if something goes wrong with a crypto recommendation specifically, SEBI’s RA grievance framework, including SCORES, may not be the applicable route, since that framework governs securities market conduct.
Investors subscribing to Stride Cryptovate should understand they are outside the same regulatory safety net that covers 5 Circles’ equity, F&O, and commodity services, even though all four are marketed together under one SEBI-registered brand.
5 Circles Pricing
5 Circles runs a subscription and course based model, with pricing tiers that include a flagship exclusive mentorship programme.
As of the time this article was written, the pricing information the owner had on file was found sitting in the trash, so no specific rupee amount is stated here until that is confirmed from a live source.
SEBI’s fee framework for Research Analysts caps advisory charges at ₹1,51,000 per client family per year for research services.
Whether any specific 5 Circles package falls within or above that cap depends on the exact fee charged and how the programme is structured and disclosed, since firms sometimes categorise structured learning or mentorship content separately from pure advisory services, and that distinction affects which SEBI rule applies.
Before paying for any package priced near or above ₹1,51,000, ask 5 Circles directly for a written breakdown of what portion is advisory versus education, and confirm this in writing before transferring funds.
5 Circles Complaints
Before turning to independent user reviews, it is worth reading 5 Circles’ own published complaint data closely, since the numbers say more when read together than any single table shows on its own.
Number of complaints
| Number of Complaints Received | At the Beginning of the Month | Received During the Month | Pending at the End of the Month | Reason for Pendency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Total Complaints Received | Total Clients Onboarded So Far | Total Complaints Received So Far | % of Complaints vs. Client Base |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 65 | 1 | 0% |
That last figure deserves a closer look than it might get at a glance. One complaint against 65 onboarded clients works out to roughly 1.5 percent, not a true zero.
Displaying it as “0%” is a rounding artefact of the disclosure format, not an inaccuracy on the firm’s part, but it is worth knowing the real ratio rather than reading the rounded figure at face value.
Trend of Monthly Disposal of Complaints
| Year | Carried Forward | Received | Resolved | Pending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023-2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024-2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
This table runs a genuinely clean three years, but there is a gap worth flagging. The single complaint shown in the total above does not appear anywhere in this yearly breakdown, which only covers through 2024-2025.
That means the one complaint on record most likely arrived sometime in the 2025-2026 financial year, a period this particular table does not yet show.
Number of Client’s Complaints, May 2026
| Received From | Pending at End of Last Month | Received | Resolved | Total Pending | Pending Over 3 Months | Avg. Resolution Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 days |
| SEBI (SCORES) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 days |
| Other Sources | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Grand Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
This most recent monthly snapshot, for May 2026, also shows no activity.
Combined with the earlier table, the single recorded complaint appears to have already been resolved sometime between April 2025 and April 2026, since it is not reflected as pending in this current month and does not appear anywhere in the 2024-2025 or earlier annual data.
Taken as a whole, this is one of the more transparent complaint disclosures reviewed in this cluster.
The formatting follows SEBI’s required structure closely, the numbers are internally consistent across all three tables once the FY 2025-26 gap is accounted for, and a single complaint against 65 clients is a genuinely low ratio, rounding artefact aside.
5 Circles Reviews
Independent user reviews describe a different picture in several recurring categories, worth weighing against the otherwise clean disclosure record above.
We are reporting what these users said in public reviews.
We are not independently verifying these accounts, and no SEBI order confirming this conduct has been issued as of this writing.
1. Marketing Materials Allegedly Showing Demo Account Profits
One reviewer, Muskan Nandwani, specifically describes marketing materials that showed profits generated on demo or paper trading accounts, presented in a way that did not make clear that these were not verified live results.
If accurate, this is exactly the kind of practice SEBI’s fair conduct norms exist to prevent, since presenting simulated performance as if it reflects real, live trading outcomes can materially mislead a prospective client’s decision to pay for a service.
2. Undisclosed Profit-Sharing Terms Exceeding 50 Percent
Another reviewer, Gautam Agrawal, described being asked to agree to profit-sharing terms exceeding 50 percent, allegedly without this being disclosed before payment.
SEBI’s framework does not permit registered Research Analysts to structure fees around a client’s trading profits at all.
If confirmed, an arrangement like this would sit outside what an RA is allowed to charge under any percentage, not simply a high or undisclosed one.
Not sure whether your 5 Circles subscription or mentorship fee was structured the way SEBI requires?
We review your payment history, fee structure, and communication records to identify exactly where the process broke down, then help you build a complaint SEBI will actually act on.
How to File a Complaint Against 5 Circles?
A relationship manager who goes quiet during losses, or a fee structure that does not match what was disclosed, is not something to sit with.
SEBI has built a specific, staged process for exactly this situation, and 5 Circles’ own registration puts it squarely within that process.
Start by documenting everything: payment receipts, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, screenshots of any performance claims shown to you, and a clear timeline of events.
Raise the issue directly with 5 Circles’ Relationship Manager or grievance channel first, in writing, and keep a copy of your submission and any reply.
From there, three escalation channels are available, in order:
-
- SEBI SCORES, the regulator’s central complaint portal, where you file formally, citing registration number INH000020004 and attach your documentation. To know the process, check our guide: SEBI SCORES complaint.
- SMART ODR, SEBI’s online conciliation platform, if SCORES does not resolve the matter. Check our guide on the SMART ODR portal to know the steps.
- Arbitration in stock market, the final formal step if conciliation does not bring resolution.
If you want the complete, step-by-step version of this process, complaint against SEBI registered research analyst covers every stage in detail.
Conclusion
5 Circles holds a genuine SEBI Research Analyst registration under INH000020004, and its complaint disclosure practices on 5circles.co.in are more transparent than many comparable firms.
At the same time, its crypto advisory service sits outside what that registration actually covers, its top-tier mentorship pricing sits above SEBI’s advisory fee cap, and independent reviews describe unresponsive support and undisclosed profit-sharing terms that would not be permitted under RA rules if confirmed.
Verify the registration, ask for a written fee breakdown before paying near or above ₹1,51,000, and treat crypto recommendations as outside SEBI’s regulatory safety net regardless of which 5 Circles website you use.
Report. Recover. Stay Fraud Free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, both reference the same SEBI registration number, INH000020004, and the same Stride product line, confirming they belong to the same registered entity operating two separate websites.
Not directly. Cryptocurrency is not classified as a security under Indian law, so SEBI's Research Analyst framework, including its grievance route through SCORES, does not clearly extend to crypto specific advice.
SEBI caps RA advisory fees at ₹1,51,000 per client family per year. Whether the mentorship fee falls under that cap depends on how the programme is categorised, so ask for a written breakdown before paying.
No. SEBI's rules do not permit Research Analysts to structure fees around a client's trading profits under any circumstances, regardless of the percentage agreed.
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