March 25 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google will

label verified investment apps on its app store in India, a move

aimed at helping users spot legitimate trading platforms and

avoid scams, a senior official at the Securities and Exchange

Board of India said on Wednesday.

The move will allow only brokers and intermediaries

registered with the SEBI, India's markets regulator, to carry a

verified badge, helping users identify legitimate platforms and

distinguish them from fraudulent apps.

Around 600 financial services apps in India have already

been assigned the verified label, Google India said at an event

with the SEBI, adding that the company was committed to building

an ecosystem of trusted investment apps.

The initiative comes as the regulator steps up a crackdown

on unauthorised investment advisers, finfluencers and fraudulent

trading platforms, amid a surge in scams targeting retail

investors.

"This verified badge will make it difficult to impersonate

genuine financial services apps," SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta

Pandey said.

Pandey added that the regulator has worked out mechanisms

with Google and Meta to bar unregistered financial entities from

getting advertisements for their content.

SEBI will also sign agreements with the country's

electronics and IT ministry within a month to strengthen

coordination in tackling financial fraud, said Jeevan Sonparote,

director at the regulator.

(Reporting by Jayshree P. Upadhyay in Mumbai and Nishit Navin

in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Shinjini Ganguli)