Trading With Karol | SEBI Registration, Red Flags and Complaint Guide

Buddhi Prakash Karol holds a real SEBI Research Analyst registration. Number INH000018090. Valid from August 1, 2024. Verifiable on SEBI’s public RA list.

That fact is worth stating first because it matters. He is not a fake entity. He is not an unregistered operator. The license is genuine.

What the license does not do is cover everything sold under his name across a Graphy course platform, a Telegram channel, multiple YouTube handles, and two separate websites.

Some of that content is compliant and some is not. Also, some sits entirely outside what an RA license permits.

This blog goes through all of it. Platform by platform. Finding by finding. So you know exactly what you are paying for before you pay.

Is Trading With Karol Legit or Not?

The person behind it is registered and real. The brand running on top of that registration is a different question.

Buddhi Prakash Karol operates the Trading With Karol brand across a Graphy course site, an app, a Telegram channel, and several YouTube handles.

He also runs a separate website at thetradingfox.com where his formal RA disclosures live.

The problem is that those disclosures stay on thetradingfox.com. They do not travel to the Graphy platform, the app, or the Telegram channel where the actual paid products get sold.

A compliant disclosure on one property does not cover what happens on the others. And what happens on the others is what this page is about.

The Person and the Brand Are Not the Same Thing

A SEBI registration is issued to a person or a firm. INH000018090 belongs to Buddhi Prakash Karol as an individual.

Trading With Karol is a marketing brand. It runs across tradingwithkarol.com, tradingwithkarol.online, a Graphy subdomain, an app, a Telegram channel, and multiple YouTube handles.

None of these are separately registered entities. Every disclosure obligation sits with the registered individual. Whether that information travels to the brand’s sales platforms is his choice.

On most of those platforms, it has not travelled. The next sections show exactly where.

For the specific analysis of where INH000018090 appears, where it does not, and what that gap means before you pay, the SEBI registration page covers the verification picture in full.

Read whether Trading With Karol is SEBI registered and what the registration actually covers.

Red Flag 1: No SEBI Disclosures on the Graphy Course Platform

The buddhiprakashkarol.graphy.com homepage sells courses under the Trading With Karol name. It leads with an IIT Kharagpur background story and a tagline about unlocking profits.

No SEBI registration number appears on this page, no RA disclaimer, no risk warning, and no Investor Charter link.

Every registered Research Analyst must publish these disclosures wherever that registration is being used to market a paid product. None of it appears here.

Red Flag 2: Account Handling Claim Beyond RA Scope

The tradingwithkarol.online site advertises an “Account Handling Service Available” directly on the page.

A Research Analyst license only permits publishing independent research and recommendations. Managing or executing trades on a client’s behalf requires a separate Portfolio Manager or Investment Adviser license with execution rights.

INH000018090 does not cover account handling. The offer either sits outside the registration scope or is misleading marketing language. Neither is acceptable.

Red Flag 3: Jackpot Language and Return-Implying Marketing

The same tradingwithkarol.online page advertises a “Daily Jackpot Call Free.” Lottery-style framing for a trading call violates SEBI’s Advertisement Code which requires recommendations to read as research, not windfalls.

The Graphy homepage carries the tagline “Unlocking Profits.” App store listings describe “Proven Trading Setups” and “high probability trades.”

The Apple App Store listing promises “Real Time Market Sessions” with “actionable entries, stop losses, and target levels.”

All of these imply performance outcomes. SEBI’s Advertisement Code specifically bars RAs from implying or assuring returns in any form.

Red Flag 4: Offshore Forex Broker Promoted on tradingwithkarol.com

At the time of this review, tradingwithkarol.com displayed content promoting an offshore forex broker called XM. The page offered a “100% deposit bonus” and a Telegram join link.

The Graphy site’s canonical tags point back to this same domain.

Promoting an unregistered offshore broker sits entirely outside RA scope. Retail margin forex trading through such platforms is also not permitted for resident Indians under FEMA rules.

Red Flag 5: Broker and Crypto Referral Schemes on Telegram

The Telegram channel at t.me/s/tradingwithkarol carries a proper-looking compliance footer in places. It shows the RA name, INH000018090, and standard risk warning language.

Alongside that same disclosure sits a “free magical indicator worth Rs. 25,000” tied to opening a trading account through a referral link with offshore broker Vantage using the code “karol50.”

A Gold VIP group is offered free for the same kind of sign up.

The channel also carries direct referral links for crypto exchanges Delta Exchange and CoinDCX.

His own Disclosure document on thetradingfox.com states the RA has not received compensation for products other than research and that there are no conflicts of interest.

Running undisclosed referral schemes directly contradicts that stated disclosure.

Red Flag 6: SEBI License Does Not Cover the Crypto and Forex Content Beside It

The same Telegram channel discloses in plain text that “Sebi license is not applicable in crypto and forex.” That line is accurate.

The problem is that regulated equity research and unregulated crypto and forex promotions appear in the same channel under the same brand. A follower can easily assume every tip carries the same regulatory protection.

SEBI’s investor caution material warns about exactly this kind of blending.

Red Flag 7: Performance-Implying App Store Marketing

The Play Store description promises content that is “more profitable for learners” and describes “Proven Trading Setups” and “high probability trades.”

The Apple App Store describes “Real Time Market Sessions” with “real trading success” attributed to someone by name.

None of these performance claims are verifiable. The Advertisement Code discourages exactly this kind of language when marketing a paid product tied to an RA’s name.

Red Flag 8: Generic Templates Across Legal Pages

The Graphy platform’s privacy policy, terms of use, and refund policy are templated boilerplate appearing identically across hundreds of unrelated Graphy creator sites, including cooking classes and exam prep courses.

None of these documents mention SEBI, RA regulations, research methodology, or investment risk.

The refund policy states digital products carry no refunds once an order is confirmed. No pro rata provision. No reference to SEBI’s RA fee refund rules.

If any course sold here functions as a research service rather than pure education, the refund terms would need to follow RA fee rules. They currently do not.

Red Flag 9: Three Contradictory Refund Policies on thetradingfox.com

This is one of the strongest specific findings across all platforms.

The Services page on thetradingfox.com states fees are not refundable under any circumstance. The dedicated Refund Policy page says refunds are possible on a pro rata basis.

The Terms and Conditions page says all sales are final, yet an earlier section of the same document describes a 30-day reimbursement window for “goods.”

A reader checking any two of these three pages would form a different expectation about their money. This is not a wording slip. It is a genuine consumer protection issue that by itself supports a formal complaint.

Red Flag 10: Complaint Arithmetic That Does Not Reconcile

The complaint board on thetradingfox.com shows 47 complaints received for 2025-26 in the annual table. The same board’s monthly table, adding September 2025 through June 2026, produces only approximately 32 received and 16 resolved.

That is a gap of roughly 15 complaints between two tables sitting on the same page.

Individual months carry their own internal errors. September 2025 lists 2 carried forward, 6 received, and 4 resolved, which should leave 4 pending.

The page shows 7 pending. March 2026 lists zero received and zero resolved, which should leave zero pending. The page shows 1 pending.

SEBI mandates accurate monthly complaint disclosure. A gap this size is a data integrity concern, not a rounding error.

For the three Play Store complaints that sit behind this complaint pattern, and the Reddit thread calling the operation a scammer, the reviews page covers each account in full.

Read the Trading With Karol reviews including the three Play Store complaints and what the missing complaint table means.

Red Flag 11: Homepage Buries Mandatory Disclosures

The thetradingfox.com homepage leads with “empowering your trading” language and mentions of algorithmic tools. No SEBI registration number appears on the homepage.

There is also no compliance officer name and no fee schedule.

SEBI’s RA norms expect registration details to sit somewhere reasonably visible. This homepage buries them entirely.

Red Flag 12: Broken SCORES Links on the Disclosure Page

The SCORES and ODR links on the thetradingfox.com Disclosure page render as a broken internal path.

They show as thetradingfox.com/disclosure/www.scores.sebi.gov.in instead of working external links.

An investor trying to file a complaint from this page runs directly into this failure.

Red Flag 13: Terms and Conditions Written for a Different Business

The Terms and Conditions page includes clauses about sale of goods, affiliate marketing commissions, reverse engineering, and an 18-plus age restriction.

None of these clauses relate to a research advisory relationship.

The jurisdiction clause names courts in Patna, Bihar. Buddhi Prakash Karol is registered and based in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The Privacy Policy repeats the same mismatch, listing “Country: Bihar, India.”

Both documents pointing to Bihar strongly suggests the template was copied and never updated to reflect his actual location or business.

The same Terms document caps the owner’s total liability at Rs. 1,000 or six months of fees, whichever is lower.

For a regulated financial services provider, that cap sits awkwardly against the client protection expectations built into the RA framework.

Off-Platform Activity That Raises the Biggest Questions

Everything above comes from the websites and apps directly. The picture shifts when you look at what runs alongside the brand elsewhere.

Two corporate directorships under DIN 08126449 show positions in Twbk Market Research Private Limited and Brainberry Technologies Private Limited.

His Disclosure page states RA fees must go into one account held in his individual name only. Payments routed through either company would break that stated policy.

This is worth confirming independently before any payment.

Multiple Instagram and Threads accounts, including @tradingwithkarol with approximately 602,000 followers, @financewithkarol, and @thekaroluniverse, all display a “SEBI Registered” badge.

Some content on these accounts covers unrelated topics including hotel business posts.

Using one registration badge as a blanket trust signal across unrelated accounts risks misleading followers about what the registration actually covers.

How to File a Complaint Against Trading With Karol?

If you paid for any service under this brand and the experience involved non-delivery, broken verification, unanswered support, or any of the practices described above, the formal complaint path runs as follows.

Step 1: Collect your evidence

Save your payment receipt, subscription confirmation, every screenshot of what was promised, every support message you sent, and every response you received.

If verification kept failing, screenshot each attempt with the date and time visible.

Step 2: Write to the compliance officer

Send a formal email to thetradingfox.com’s listed contact. State what you paid, when, for what service, what was not delivered, and what resolution you are seeking.

Give 21 days for a response.

Step 3: File on SEBI SCORES

Go to scores.sebi.gov.in. Select Research Analyst as the intermediary type. Enter INH000018090 as the registration number.

File against Buddhi Prakash Karol for RA-related grievances, including non-delivery of subscriptions, fee disputes, or marketing claims that crossed into implied return territory.

For the complete guide on what each SCORES status label means and what to do if the complaint stalls, the tracking guide covers every stage. Read how to track your SEBI SCORES complaint status.

Step 4: Escalate to SMART ODR

If SCORES does not produce a satisfactory resolution, the complaint transfers to SMART ODR at smartodr.in. Do not file on SMART ODR while the SCORES complaint is still active.

That disposes the SCORES complaint automatically.

For the complete guide on how conciliation works, what the intermediary is required to do, and how to track the case, the conciliation guide is here. Read how SMART ODR conciliation works.

Step 5: Arbitration

If SMART ODR conciliation fails, the matter moves to formal arbitration. BSE holds his RA enlistment under number 6351. For claims below Rs. 10 lakh, the investor pays no arbitration filing fee.

For crypto and forex complaints: These sit outside SEBI’s jurisdiction entirely. File at cybercrime.gov.in under Financial Fraud and attach the specific promotion, referral link, and payment proof as evidence.

Our team files your SEBI SCORES complaint, prepares the documentation, and represents you through SMART ODR and arbitration.

Register for a free consultation today.

Conclusion

Buddhi Prakash Karol holds a genuine SEBI RA registration. That fact stands.

What surrounds it is a brand spread across platforms with missing disclosures, contradictory refund policies, unreconciled complaint data, undisclosed referral income, and legal templates written for a different business entirely.

Registration confirms he is allowed to operate as a research analyst. It does not confirm that every practice around it protects you as a paying client.

Use the 13 red flags above as your checklist before you pay. Use the complaint steps above if you already did.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Trading With Karol SEBI registered?

The person behind the brand, Buddhi Prakash Karol, holds SEBI Research Analyst registration INH000018090, valid from August 1, 2024. The Trading With Karol brand itself is not a separately registered entity. The registration belongs to the individual, not the brand name. Several platforms where the brand sells paid products carry no SEBI disclosures at all.

2. Can Trading With Karol manage my trading account?

No. INH000018090 is a Research Analyst registration. It permits publishing research recommendations. It does not permit managing or executing trades on a client's account. That requires a separate Portfolio Manager or Investment Adviser license with execution rights. The account handling service advertised on tradingwithkarol.online sits outside what this registration covers.

3. What is the correct SEBI registration number for Buddhi Prakash Karol?

The correct number is INH000018090. The tradingwithkarol.online site displays it as INHO00018090, with the letter O where a zero should be. Always verify the correct number directly on sebi.gov.in rather than trusting either version shown on any brand platform.

4. Are the crypto and forex tips on the Telegram channel covered by SEBI registration?

No. The Telegram channel itself states that the SEBI license does not apply to crypto and forex content. Any losses from those specific products sit outside what a SCORES complaint against INH000018090 can address. File those at cybercrime.gov.in instead.

5. Can I get a refund from Trading With Karol?

The answer depends on which platform you paid through and which refund page you rely on. The thetradingfox.com website carries three contradictory refund statements across three separate pages. The Graphy platform states no refunds on digital products once an order is confirmed. If the service you paid for functions as regulated research rather than pure education, SEBI's RA fee refund rules may apply regardless of what the platform's own policy states. Raise the specific refund page you relied on in your SCORES complaint.