Forex education · Free
Understand forex before anyone sells it to you.
How currencies are priced, what an Indian resident is and is not allowed to do, what leverage really does, and how forex scams work. No trading account to open, nothing to deposit.
This is education only. PaisaTrade does not offer trading in any currency or crypto asset, takes no deposits, and does not recommend any broker, exchange, wallet, pair or coin.
What you will learn
- 1What the Currency Market Is7 min · quiz of 3
- 2What Is Legal in India8 min · quiz of 3
- 3Reading a Quote: Bid, Ask, Pip and Lot7 min · quiz of 3
- 4Leverage and Margin7 min · quiz of 3
- 5What Moves a Currency6 min · quiz of 3
- 6How Forex Scams Work7 min · quiz of 3
A final exam and a verifiable certificate at the end.
What Indian rules say
- Foreign exchange is governed by FEMA and regulated by the RBI.
- Residents may deal only with authorised persons and on recognised Indian exchanges, in the contracts those exchanges list.
- Exchange-traded currency contracts are tied to hedging a real foreign-currency exposure.
- Sending money to an overseas forex or CFD platform for margin trading is not permitted.
- RBI publishes an Alert List of unauthorised platforms. The list is not complete.
Rules change. Read the current RBI circulars or ask your bank before doing anything with foreign exchange.
Scams to recognise
- Apps that show profits but block withdrawals until you pay a "tax"
- Telegram and WhatsApp signal groups with sign-up links
- "Account managers" who ask for your login or a deposit
- Challenge fees for a "funded account"
- Recovery agents who charge to get your money back
Words you will meet
- Currency pair
- Two currencies quoted together, such as USD/INR. The price is how much of the second buys one unit of the first.
- Base and quote
- The first currency in a pair is the base; the second is the quote.
- Bid and ask
- The price the market buys at and the price it sells at.
- Spread
- The gap between bid and ask. A cost on every trade.
- Pip
- The standard small price step: the fourth decimal for most pairs, the second for yen pairs.
- Lot
- The contract size. One USD/INR contract on Indian exchanges is 1,000 US dollars.
- Leverage
- Controlling a large position with a small deposit. It multiplies losses as much as gains.
- Margin call
- A demand for more money when losses eat into the deposit.
Common questions
Is forex trading legal in India?
Indian residents may deal in foreign exchange only with authorised persons and on recognised Indian stock exchanges, in the currency contracts those exchanges list, under FEMA and RBI rules. Sending money to overseas forex or CFD platforms for margin trading is not permitted. Rules change, so check the current RBI position.
Does PaisaTrade offer forex trading?
No. PaisaTrade is an education platform. It does not open forex accounts, does not accept money for trading and does not recommend any broker, platform or currency pair.
What will I learn in the Forex Basics course?
How currency pairs are quoted, what is legal for Indian residents, how to read bid, ask, pip and lot, what leverage and margin do, what moves a currency, and how forex scams work. Each lesson ends with a quiz and the course ends with an exam and certificate.
How do I check whether a forex platform is authorised?
Look for it on RBI's Alert List of unauthorised entities, and remember that the list is not complete: a platform missing from it is not thereby approved. Permitted dealing happens through authorised dealer banks and recognised Indian exchanges.
Legal and tax points are a plain-language summary as understood in 2026 and are not legal or tax advice. PaisaTrade is not a broker, exchange or SEBI-registered adviser.