Are referral bonuses and "extra yield" offers on bond apps allowed?

The rules turn on who the platform pays or takes referrals from. Amendments to SEBI's Intermediaries Regulations, approved on 27th Jun 2024 and notified on 29th Aug 2024, bar SEBI regulated entities and their agents from associating, directly or indirectly, with people who give investment advice or recommendations without registration or who make claims about returns or performance (Legal500). Association covers "any transaction involving money or money's worth, referral of a client" as well as linking IT systems. Every online bond platform is a SEBI registered stock broker, so this applies to every bond app. The platform is responsible for its associates, and penalties run up to suspension or cancellation of registration (Storyboard18).

What does that mean for a referral link?

A post that promises a return on a bond and carries a referral code combines a return claim with a client referral, and the platform that pays for it carries the regulatory risk. Persons engaged only in investor education are exempt, but SEBI's Jan 2025 clarification says education may not use live prices of specific securities and must use data at least 3 months old (Mondaq). Whether a plain refer a friend scheme between ordinary users is caught was argued both ways in a TradingQnA comparison thread in Apr 2026; after other users objected that the post called BBB+ bonds safe while carrying referral links, the poster removed the links (TradingQnA).

Are "extra yield" offers allowed?

They are a price the platform sets on bonds it sells from its own inventory. Examples:

• Stable Bonds shows an additional YTM with a strike-off and says it comes from a brokerage waiver (Stable T&C).
• InCred Money offered its first 5,000 waitlist subscribers 0.5% a year above its regular 12.0% rate, and group employees an extra 0.25% (InCred terms).
• Jiraaf raises the YTM with quantity, from 12.00% for 1 unit to 12.50% for 5 or more (Jiraaf FAQ).

The current OBPP advertising code bars testimonials, rankings and celebrities in platform adverts and requires a fixed risk warning (SEBI NCS Master Circular). SEBI's consultation paper of 21st Aug 2026 goes further: it cites urgency based messaging, artificial scarcity and fear of missing out, and would bar "high yield" claims without a basis (SEBI consultation paper, Cafemutual). A bonus that expires in 7 days is the kind of urgency it describes. SEBI's board approved a Common Advertisement Code covering bond platforms on 24th Sep 2026 (SEBI PR 59/2026); one report says it was notified on 8th Oct 2026 (TaxGuru).

What about paid distributors?

A separate Aug 2026 consultation would create Fixed Income Channel Partners, enlisted distributors who onboard clients for bond platforms and are paid by them, with commission reportedly capped at 2.5% of the amount invested (SEBI FICP consultation). It was still a proposal on 17th Oct 2026.

Does this site earn from platforms?

No. Compare Bond Platforms takes no referral, affiliate or placement money from any platform, broker or channel it reviews, uses no referral codes, and earns nothing from the links it gives to official sites. Its one product interest is listed on the disclosures page.