Zerodha KRA KYC validation CVL KRA CAMS KRA KFin KRA re-KYC

The KRA KYC validation email and SMS explained

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 20 June 2026. Reading time ~12 min.

Key facts

Who sends it	One of the five SEBI-registered KRAs: CVL, NDML, DOTEX, CAMS or KFin (Karvy), not Zerodha
What it reports	Your KYC status against your PAN: Validated, Registered, Under Validation, On Hold, or Rejected
Why it exists	SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/FATF/P/CIR/2023/0144, dated 11 August 2023, made KRAs validate every KYC record
What On Hold means	Your mobile or email could not be verified; from 18 August 2023 such records were kept On Hold and the account is restricted until re-KYC
Action on a validation link	Click the link in the email to validate your email address; an Indian mobile number must be validated, international numbers need not be
Trading consequence	An On Hold or Rejected status blocks fresh transactions until the record is validated

A KRA KYC validation email or SMS is a message from one of India’s five SEBI-registered KYC Registration Agencies, CVL, NDML, DOTEX, CAMS or KFin (formerly Karvy), reporting the status of your KYC record against your PAN and, where required, asking you to validate your registered email address or mobile number. It is sent under SEBI’s framework for validation of KYC records by KRAs, not by your broker, and the status it carries (Validated, Registered, Under Validation, On Hold or Rejected) governs whether you can transact in the securities market.

The message confuses investors because it arrives from an entity most have never dealt with directly. You opened your account with Zerodha , a Groww or an AMC, yet the email comes from CVLKRA or KFin KRA. That is by design. Under the KYC Registration Agency system, your intermediary uploads your KYC to a KRA, and the KRA, not the intermediary, owns the record and is accountable to SEBI for validating it. The email is the KRA discharging that duty.

This article explains the five statuses, the SEBI circular that created the validation regime in 2023, what each message asks you to do, the trading consequences of an On Hold or Rejected status, and how to check and fix your own status. For the Zerodha-specific KRA record and how it maps to your trading account, see Zerodha KRA .

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.

What a KRA is and why it emails you directly

A KYC Registration Agency is a SEBI-registered entity that maintains KYC records centrally so that an investor completes KYC once and reuses it across every SEBI intermediary. Five KRAs operate in India: CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL KRA), NSDL Database Management Limited (NDML KRA), NSE’s DOTEX, CAMS KRA, and KFin Technologies (KFin KRA, the former Karvy). They are interoperable: a record created at one KRA is visible to the others, which is why your KYC does not have to be redone when you open a second account at a different broker.

The KRA, not your broker, sends the validation email because SEBI placed the validation duty on the KRA. When you opened your account, your intermediary pushed your KYC data to a KRA. That KRA then runs the SEBI-mandated validation against source data, primarily your Aadhaar, and writes a status against your PAN. The email or SMS is the KRA telling you the outcome and, where an attribute could not be auto-verified, asking you to confirm it. Because the record is keyed to your PAN and shared across intermediaries, a single On Hold flag at the KRA can freeze you at every broker at once, which is why the message matters regardless of which firm you trade with.

The SEBI circular behind the validation regime

The validation requirement comes from SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/FATF/P/CIR/2023/0144, dated 11 August 2023, on validation of KYC records by KRAs. It directed KRAs to validate the records they hold by verifying the investor’s PAN, name, address, email and mobile against authoritative sources, with Aadhaar as the primary source where the investor’s KYC was Aadhaar-based. A record that clears this check is marked Validated; one that cannot be fully verified is held back.

The operational pinch point was contact-detail verification. Where the KRAs, working through registrars and transfer agents, could not verify a client’s mobile number or email ID, the KYC status against that PAN was kept On Hold with effect from 18 August 2023. SEBI’s position is direct: a client whose KYC status is not Validated by the KRAs is not allowed to transact in the securities market until the KYC is validated. A 2024 SEBI circular on review of validation of KYC records by KRAs, dated 14 May 2024, eased parts of this by treating an Aadhaar-validated record as fully validated and reducing the attributes that force a hold, but the core rule, no Validated status, no fresh transactions, still stands.

The five KYC statuses and what each means

The status reported against your PAN is one of five values. They form a ladder from fully usable to blocked.

Status	Meaning	Can you transact?
Validated	KYC verified against source, primarily Aadhaar; record portable across all intermediaries	Yes, fully
Registered	KYC recorded by the KRA but not yet verified against source	Yes, but you may be asked to validate to reach Validated
Under Validation	KRA verification in progress; status not yet finalised	Usually yes pending outcome; can take up to 72 hours to refresh
On Hold	A KYC attribute, typically email or mobile, could not be verified	No fresh trades; square off only, until re-KYC clears it
Rejected	KYC failed verification, for example a PAN, name or document mismatch	No; re-KYC required before you can transact

Validated is the goal state. A record marked Registered is usable but is the older, lighter status; SEBI’s push since 2023 has been to move every Registered record to Validated. Under Validation is transient. On Hold and Rejected are the two that stop you, and both clear only through re-KYC.

What each message asks you to do

The action depends on which status the message reports and whether it carries a validation link.

If the email carries a link to validate your email address, click it. This confirms to the KRA that the registered email is live and yours. If you do not see the email, check the spam, trash and deleted folders, because the sender domain (cvlindia.com, camskra.com, karvykra.com) is unfamiliar to many mail filters.

If you receive an SMS, no action beyond noting the status is usually needed. You will only receive the SMS if DND is not enabled on your number and the number is active. An Indian mobile number registered with the KRA must be validated; international numbers need not be validated, which matters for NRIs whose registered number is foreign.

If the status is On Hold or Rejected, the message is telling you to fix the record. That means a re-KYC, updating the deficient attribute, usually email or mobile, in line with your Aadhaar, after which the KRA re-validates. For the Zerodha route, see How to re-KYC at Zerodha , and to confirm your current state first, see How to check your KYC status at CAMS or KFin .

Trading consequences of On Hold and Rejected

The validation status is not cosmetic. Under the August 2023 circular, a client whose KYC is not Validated cannot transact in the securities market until it is. In practice this means that if your status is On Hold or Rejected, you are not permitted to place fresh buy or sell orders on the exchange; you may only square off existing open positions. Until the KRA details are updated and validated, the trading and demat account effectively stays restricted.

For an NRI the stakes are higher and time-bound. NRI clients whose residential status was not updated on the Income Tax Department records by 9 February 2024 were blocked from trading on the NSE and BSE, a separate but related contact-and-status verification drive. The lesson is the same: a KRA or ITD status flag translates directly into a trading block, so an On Hold message is something to clear, not ignore.

How to check your status and validate

You do not have to wait for an email to learn your status; you can query it. Go to any KRA portal: validate.cvlindia.com for CVL, camskra.com for CAMS, karvykra.com for KFin, kra.ndml.in for NDML, or the DOTEX KRA portal. Click KYC Inquiry, enter your PAN, type the captcha and submit. The portal shows the status held against your PAN and which KRA holds the primary record.

If the details on the portal are correct but the status is not yet Validated, follow the on-screen instructions to validate your Aadhaar details. If the details are wrong, or the status is On Hold or Rejected, complete a re-KYC to update the record in line with your Aadhaar. The cleanest path is to submit the KYC modification through your intermediary’s or AMC’s website, which is integrated with the KRAs; the back-end interoperability then propagates the corrected record to your KRA. Allow up to 72 hours after a validation for the status to refresh, and where a broker processes the re-KYC, add its turnaround plus the KRA’s own update window of about 5 working days.

Remember that KYC is a one-time exercise. Once your KYC is done through one SEBI-registered intermediary, you need not repeat it at another; you re-KYC only when an attribute changes or a status forces it.

What can go wrong

Treating the email as phishing and deleting it: the message genuinely comes from a KRA (cvlindia.com, camskra.com, karvykra.com). Verify the status independently at the KRA portal before acting, but do not ignore a real On Hold flag.
Ignoring an On Hold status: an unvalidated KYC blocks fresh trades and leaves you able only to square off. Clear it through re-KYC promptly.
Not seeing the validation email: unfamiliar KRA sender domains often land in spam or trash. Check those folders before assuming nothing was sent.
Expecting an instant status change: after validation the KRA can take up to 72 hours to refresh; a broker-routed re-KYC adds its own turnaround plus about 5 working days at the KRA.
NRIs validating an international mobile: only an Indian mobile number registered with the KRA must be validated; international numbers need not be. Validate the email, which is mandatory for NRIs.
DND blocking the SMS: you receive the confirmation SMS only if DND is off and the number is active. If you expect an SMS and get none, check DND and have the KRA resend.

External references

References

SEBI, Validation of KYC records by KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs), circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/FATF/P/CIR/2023/0144, dated 11 August 2023.
SEBI, Review of validation of KYC records by KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs), circular dated 14 May 2024.
Joint press release by all KYC Registration Agencies on KYC changes (CVL, NDML, DOTEX, CAMS, KFin), 2024.
Zerodha support, Why does the KRA send a KYC validation email and SMS? (as of 21 June 2026).
Zerodha support, NRI residential-status update on ITD records and the 9 February 2024 trading block (as of 21 June 2026).

WebNotes Editorial Team prepares factual reference material based on publicly available regulatory documents and broker disclosures. WebNotes is not affiliated with Zerodha Broking Limited or any KYC Registration Agency. Procedures and timelines are subject to change; verify current requirements at the relevant KRA portal and at support.zerodha.com before acting.

Frequently asked questions

Why did I get a KYC validation email or SMS from CVL, CAMS or KFin?

A KYC Registration Agency sends it to report your KYC status against your PAN and, where needed, to ask you to validate your registered email or mobile number. SEBI requires every KRA to validate the KYC records it holds, so the message is a regulatory step, not spam.

What does KYC Validated mean versus Registered?

Registered means the KRA has recorded your KYC. Validated means the KRA has additionally verified your identity attributes against the source, primarily Aadhaar, so the record is portable across intermediaries without fresh paperwork. Validated is the strongest status.

What does KYC On Hold mean and can I still trade?

On Hold means a KYC attribute, usually your email or mobile, could not be verified. From 18 August 2023 such records were kept On Hold. You cannot place fresh trades and may only square off open positions until you complete re-KYC and the status clears.

Do I need to validate the email or SMS link?

Yes, if the message asks you to. Click the link to validate your registered email address. For an Indian mobile number, validate it too. International numbers need not be validated. Check spam and trash if the email is not in your inbox.

How do I check my KYC status myself?

Go to any KRA portal: validate.cvlindia.com, camskra.com, karvykra.com, kra.ndml.in or dotex KRA, click KYC Inquiry, enter your PAN and the captcha, and submit. The status against your PAN appears there. After a validation it can take up to 72 hours to update.

I validated my details but the status has not changed. Why?

After you validate, the KRA status can take up to 72 hours to refresh. If you completed a re-KYC through a broker, that adds processing time: Zerodha processes re-KYC in 24 to 48 working hours and the KRA updates its record in about 5 further working days.

Is KYC a one-time exercise?

Yes. Once your KYC is done through one SEBI-registered intermediary, broker, depository participant or mutual fund, you need not repeat it at another. The KRA system makes the record interoperable. You re-KYC only when an attribute changes or a status is On Hold or Rejected.

Reviewed and published by

WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed: 20 June 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.