Digital gold complaints rise in 5 years: Here is what you should know before investing in e-gold

Complaints regarding digital gold have increased in the last five years, rising from 17 in 2020 to 112 in 2025 (as of November 2025), the government told Parliament on Monday, December 15.

In the last five years, states across India have received a total of 371 complaints regarding the sale/purchase of digital gold, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha.

Chaudhary was replying to this question: “Will the Minister of Finance be pleased to state the details regarding the total number of complaints received by the Government regarding the sale/purchase of digital gold in the country during the last five years and especially from Andhra Pradesh, State-wise.”

What you should know about digital gold investment

Digital gold is the gold you buy online through apps like Paytm and PhonePe, and from companies like MMTC PAMP and Augmont Goldtech. Jewellers like Senco Gold also offer digital gold.

What many people miss is that digital gold investment is not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Due to the lack of regulation, digital gold investments become risky with no investor protection or grievance redressal mechanism.

The regulator said that digital gold and e-gold products offered by some digital/online platforms are different from SEBI-regulated gold products like Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) offered by Mutual Funds and Electronic Gold Receipts (EGRs) tradeable on stock exchanges.

The government has also not launched any campaigns or initiatives to increase awareness regarding digital gold, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in the reply to another query on “...whether the Government has launched any campaigns/initiatives to increase awareness regarding digital gold, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?”

“However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has issued a press release dated 08th November, 2025, providing information to the public regarding investments in gold-related financial products,” he said.

In November 2025, the volume of digital gold purchases through UPI (Unified Payments Interface) surged to 123.42 million, rising by 142.3% in 2025 from 50.93 transactions in January, as per National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data.

The value of digital gold purchases via UPI soared 59.4% to ₹1,215 crore in November against ₹762 crore in January.