SEBI Discontinues IRRA Trading Platform, Terms It Structurally Redundant

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has withdrawn the Investor Risk Reduction Access (IRRA) platform with immediate effect, bringing an end to the emergency trading arrangement introduced nearly three years ago for brokers facing technical outages.

The platform had been introduced in October 2023 as a temporary safeguard to ensure trading activity could continue if a broker’s primary systems went down during market hours.

The regulator implemented the decision through a fresh circular that came into effect on 7 May 2026.

Why SEBI Has Shut The Platform

According to the regulator, India’s market infrastructure has become more stable over the last few years, reducing the need for a separate emergency access framework like IRRA.

SEBI said trading exchanges and intermediaries have significantly upgraded their systems. These improvements include stronger Business Continuity Planning and Disaster Recovery (BCP-DR) frameworks, enhanced cyber security systems, and the setting up of Market Security Operations Centres (M-SoC).

SEBI went on to mention that these upgrades have greatly enhanced the overall robustness of the trading environment.

The regulator also observed that the IRRA platform saw very limited usage after its rollout, as most brokers relied on their own upgraded contingency systems during technical disruptions.

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Exchanges Asked To Strengthen Contingency Framework

Even though IRRA has been withdrawn, SEBI clarified that backup arrangements for market operations will continue.

The regulator said the contingency pool trading facility will remain active, while exchanges and market infrastructure institutions have been directed to further strengthen their continuity mechanisms and disaster recovery frameworks.

The move is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted trading access during outages or cyber-related incidents without depending on a standalone platform.

Sources:

The Times of India

Zee Business

Moneycontrol