About RAStage & Platform Profile

1.1 Product Definition: RAStage is a cloud-native operating software platform purpose-built specifically for SEBI Registered Research Analysts (RAs) holding valid licenses granted under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014. The platform functions as an end-to-end digital operating system, consolidating research drafting, multi-channel recommendation dispatch, customer relationship management (CRM), automated subscription billing, and regulatory audit compliance into a unified interface.

1.2 Corporate Identity & Ownership: RAStage is conceptualized, owned, and operated by Techthaastu, an Indian technology firm specializing in regulated financial software, distributed low-latency messaging, and cloud compliance architecture.

1.3 Technology Intermediary Status: In accordance with Section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (and amendments thereof), RAStage acts as a technology intermediary providing sovereign software tools. RAStage does not modify, curate, or endorse the recommendations authored by licensed Research Analysts, nor does it exercise editorial control over the market research distributed through its infrastructure.

2.1 The Regulatory & Market Context: The Indian capital markets have witnessed an unprecedented influx of retail demat accounts over recent years. Concurrently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has instituted stringent regulatory measures to safeguard retail investors, mandating comprehensive record retention, strict disclosure guidelines, and cyber security audits for licensed intermediaries.

2.2 The Operational Dilemma: Despite stringent regulatory mandates, Research Analysts historically relied on 6 to 8 disparate, generic tools:

• Unsecured Messaging Channels: Unregulated Telegram groups and manual WhatsApp broadcast lists characterized by message leaks, delivery delays, and absent audit logs.
• Generic CRMs: Systems such as Zoho, Salesforce, or HubSpot that lack capital market vocabulary, entry/stop-loss structures, trailing stop-losses, and mandatory SEBI disclaimer generation.
• Manual Payment Verification: Chasing UPI screenshots and bank SMS confirmations, leading to delays in client access provisioning and accounting discrepancies.
• Audit Retention Vulnerabilities: Storing regulatory records across dispersed spreadsheets and personal hard drives, risking severe statutory penalties under SEBI inspections.

2.3 The RAStage Solution: RAStage eliminates this operational fragmentation by integrating research drafting, sub-second broadcasting, Razorpay merchant checkout, and automated 5-year compliance archiving into one interconnected system.

3.1 Institutionalizing Compliant Research: We believe that transparent, well-governed research should be easy to distribute. Our primary objective is to elevate licensed Research Analysts above unregistered social media tipsters by empowering them with institutional-grade technology.

3.2 Core Vision: To establish RAStage as the undisputed national operating standard for regulated capital market advisory and investor communication in India.

3.3 Ethical Principles:

1. Absolute Integrity: We strictly serve licensed, legitimate capital market participants. Accounts failing SEBI registration verification are barred from platform activation.
2. Data Sovereignty: We hold that an analyst's client database and research intellectual property belong solely to that analyst. RAStage does not monetize, mine, or share subscriber data.
3. Zero Concealed Fees: Transparent, straightforward software subscription pricing with zero hidden commissions on client advisory fees.

Every subsystem within the RAStage codebase is engineered around four inviolable architectural standards:

RAStage is divided into six core operating engines that interact seamlessly across the advisory lifecycle:

RAStage is explicitly engineered for entities and professionals regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India:

• Individual SEBI Registered Research Analysts: Solo practitioners who need automated administrative, billing, and compliance support so they can dedicate their full attention to technical and fundamental research.
• Boutique Advisory Partnerships & LLPs: Multi-analyst firms requiring segmented service tiers (e.g., Options Desk, Swing Equities, Long-Term Value), role-based permissions, and consolidated practice accounting.
• Corporate Advisory Desks & FinTech Entities: Institutional desks serving high volumes of active retail subscribers that demand dedicated broadcast queues, webhook integrations, and 99.9% uptime SLAs.

7.1 Statutory Mandates: Under Chapter III (General Obligations & Responsibilities) of the SEBI (Research Analysts) Regulations, 2014:

• Regulation 18 & 19: Mandates explicit disclosures regarding financial interest, receipt of compensation, and conflict of interest in all research publications.
• Regulation 24: Mandates the appointment of a Compliance Officer and the establishment of robust internal procedures.
• Regulation 25: Dictates that Research Analysts shall maintain and preserve research reports, recommendations, public appearances, and client records for a statutory minimum of five (5) years.

7.2 WORM Compliance Architecture: The RAStage SEBI Audit Vault incorporates Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) principles. Once a recommendation is broadcast, its entry parameters, attached rationale, timestamp of dispatch, and recipient log cannot be modified, edited, or deleted by any platform user or administrator.

7.3 Single-Click Inspection Export: During statutory SEBI inspections or internal audit reviews, analysts can export complete, timestamped CSV and PDF bundles containing complete communication histories for any specified date range or scrip symbol.

8.1 Sovereign Indian Hosting: All production workloads, primary relational databases, file repositories, and caching instances reside exclusively within the AWS Mumbai Region (ap-south-1). Under no circumstances is investor or analyst data transmitted to foreign jurisdictions or offshore servers.

8.2 Cryptographic Safeguards:

• Data in Transit: Encrypted using TLS 1.3 protocol across all endpoints, APIs, and client portals.
• Data at Rest: Encrypted using industry-standard 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).
• Access Controls: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement and least-privilege role-based access protocols.

8.3 DPDP Act 2023 Readiness: In compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, RAStage acts as a Data Processor on behalf of the Research Analyst (the Data Fiduciary). The platform incorporates clear consent collection mechanisms, purpose limitation, and granular data privacy controls.

9.1 Direct Merchant Settlement: RAStage integrates directly with Razorpay Software Private Limited. All subscriber subscription fees pass straight from the investor's payment instrument into the verified merchant bank account of the Research Analyst.

9.2 Zero Custody of Client Funds: RAStage does not touch, pool, or hold investor subscription funds, nor does it operate an intermediary escrow. Settlement occurs strictly through regulated banking channels.

9.3 Software Fee Model: RAStage charges Research Analysts a predictable B2B software license fee (billed monthly or annually) for access to the operating platform. We do not extract percentage commissions from analyst advisory fees.

Techthaastu maintains an open and transparent communication policy for regulators, market analysts, and subscribers. For corporate, technical, or legal inquiries, refer to the directory below: