Read the order here.
The Bombay High Court has restrained the unauthorised use of the “NSE” mark by fake social media accounts and websites, warning that such impersonation poses a serious risk to investors and market integrity. The order came in a suit filed by the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) against unidentified entities operating deceptive accounts.
Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh, in an order dated April 10, 2026, held that restraining such activity was necessary in the public interest and to protect investors. The bench emphasised that misuse of the NSE mark creates a “real risk” of misleading investors and could lead to financial loss while undermining trust in regulated financial systems.
Background: NSE sought judicial intervention after discovering several fake profiles and websites that were misusing its trademark on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Some accounts allegedly used AI-generated deepfake videos of NSE’s Managing Director and CEO to promote fraudulent investment schemes, falsely implying the exchange’s endorsement.
The exchange stated that, despite repeated complaints, many of these accounts remained active, requiring urgent judicial intervention.
Argument on unrelated content raised, but not accepted: During the hearing, counsel for one respondent argued that several identified YouTube channels were unrelated to the stock market and featured content such as music, despite using the NSE trademark. Counsel also submitted that these channels had long-standing and substantial subscriber bases, and requested they be given an opportunity to respond before any adverse orders were issued.
The Court did not accept this argument at the interim stage, stating that use of a registered trademark without authorisation could be misleading, regardless of the content hosted on the channels.
Court orders suspension and lock of infringing domains: In addition to ordering social media takedowns, the Court directed domain registrars to disable and secure infringing domain names.
The Court instructed the registrar to suspend or disable www.nsetrend.com, managed by one of the defendants, within 36 hours. The domain must also be locked for the duration of its registration to prevent transfer.
The registrar is also prohibited from allowing the domain to return to the common pool after expiry, thereby preventing re-registration by third parties. The Court further directed that the domain be listed in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) database.
Similarly, the Court ordered the suspension or disabling of www.nseservice.in, reserved by another defendant. This domain must also be locked for the duration of its registration and protected from transfer.
The registrar is further prohibited from re-listing this domain for public registration after expiry and must include it in the TMCH database.
Relief granted against unknown defendants: The Court also issued restraint orders against unknown persons (John Doe defendants), prohibiting them from using the NSE trademark or any deceptively similar mark in any form, including social media accounts, advertisements, or websites.
It held that the balance of convenience lay in favour of NSE, as continued circulation of such content could cause irreparable harm to both the institution and investors.
Are rising impersonation scams exposing systemic gaps across platforms? This case reflects a wider increase in impersonation-based scams within India’s digital economy. On March 21, 2026, the co-founders of CoinDCX were arrested in a fraud case linked to a fake website impersonating the platform. They were later granted bail by a Thane court, which found that prima facie, no case was made out against them. The alleged fraud was carried out through a website, “coindcx.pro”, by impersonators with no connection to CoinDCX.
In response, the company launched a Rs 100 crore ($12 million) cybersecurity initiative to develop shared fraud-detection infrastructure and enhance user awareness.
Recent regulatory action highlights the scale of the issue. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reported facilitating the removal of over 1.2 lakh misleading influencer posts related to financial advice and market content. These posts included false claims, unverified tips, and impersonations of credible institutions and experts.
The issue extends beyond individual platforms. Google’s 2025 Ads Safety Report states that over 8.3 billion ads were blocked or removed globally, including more than 602 million scam-related ads, and millions of advertiser accounts were suspended for policy violations. In India, hundreds of millions of harmful ads were removed and over a million advertiser accounts suspended, with impersonation and misleading claims among the most frequent violations. These figures demonstrate the scale of the threat and the increasing dependence on automated systems to prevent such abuse from reaching users.
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