There are many online companies offering demat and trading accounts in India. Some are extensions of banks, while others are standalone.
In this multitude of choices which ones should you go with and which one offers the best return for you.
Are low brokerage services the best. Or is speed and fidelity the best thing for you?
I compiled this list to help you make your decision about the best demat and trading accounts in India.
Read on the comparisons and reviews and make your decision.
The most affordable one may or may not be the best. To aid you the list includes both discount brokers and full fledged brokers.
Discount brokers are on the rise. They have more number of users and the shift they brought isn’t going to die down anytime soon. More and more entrants are entering the market and taking India by storm.
Most online stock brokers provide you the trading account as well as set you up with the demat account once you open an account with them. They charge minimum transaction fees. One of these brokers Zerodha doesn’t charge anything for delivery trades.
The list of most popular discount brokers consist of 5 Paisa, Zerodha, Upstox, Angel Broking and so on. The fee is low and some of these brokers like zerodha don’t charge for stock delivery. The only fee you pay are taxes and STT.
How does a demat account differ from a regular trading account
A trading account is where you place orders on the stock exchange. If you wish to buy or sell stocks or securities a trading account is a must.
Once you have purchased the stocks and taken delivery, these are stored somewhere electronically. The account is called the National Stock Depository. But the fluctuations in NSDL account are reflected in the demat account short for dematerialized account. THey tell you the number of stocks in electronic form that you own.
1. ZERODHA
Zerodha is one that I regularly use as my trading account. It’s a pioneer of discount trading in the country. Started up by Nitin Kamath, it is the de facto and largest discount brokers in the nation. They devised and introduced the model of discount broking charging either .1% of the trade or rs 20 whichever is minimum.
And the highest charges you pay are going to be rs 20 no matter how large the trading volume is.
Equity delivery is free of cost. This reduces barrier for entry as well.
The account opening charges are 200 one time and demat account maintenance charges are rs 300.
You can trade on the following segments like BSE, NSE< BTST, MCDEX and forex.
It has gained popularity and captured popular sentiment because the charges are less.
Here are additional tools you get with your zerodha account
Zerodha Kite
Zerodha Pi
Zerodha Coin
India Infoline 5paisa
5 paisa is full service broker allowing stock trading on its platform paisa.com
It stands second to zerodha and forms the next biggest user base.
Demat account is free. Trading account costs 650 to set up after the first year 400rs yearly charges.
YOu can trade on the following segments :BSE, NSE, MCX and NCDEX, IPOs and Mutual Funds..
Unlike zerodha the brokerage isn’t free. But at 10rs per executed order you’re not losing much either.
Equity intraday, delivery futures and options all cost 10 rs per executed order and not more.
3. ANGEL BROKING:
Angel Broking is another popular broker with a presence in all of India. It has registered sub brokers also. You can place order via phone call if you don’t have an internet connection.
No account opening charges for either demat or trading account.
Trades in all segments on NSE, BSE, MCX, NCDEX.
Angel Broking Brokerage:
Angel broking has multiple plans (Angel classic, Angel Preferred, Angel Premium and Angel Elite). You can pick up the plan as per your trade volume. The brokerage will vary along with that.
The brokerage charges are only slightly higher than other discount brokers. It has the iTrade plan where you pay a flat brokerage.
You get these two options.
They used to charge variably as brokerage but now it’s 40 Rs brokerage for every trade like intraday, future, com, options, EQ except for equity delivery which is free.
4. ICICI DIRECT:
ICICI bank’s ICICI Direct is its brokerage line. It has been a preferred broker for many years now. Retail investors all over the country joined the brokerage in large numbers directing many of their investments in stocks and mutual funds through the channel. In fact for several years ICICI Direct was one of the only online brokerages. You get a bank account which can be used to open a trading account and demat account.
The account is actually a 3-in-1 account i.e a trading account, Demat Account and the bank account that you can easily open online.
Here are the various charges for the ICICI Direct account:
What are the charges associated with opening an account?
You can open the trading account for Rs. 975 and it includes everything, trading and bank account. Demat account opening requires a separate 100 rs with 400rs as annual maintenance charges.
You can trade on all segments like BSE, NSE, NSE, BTST, Spot Trading, Mutual Funds, Term Insurance, IPOs.
I won’t mince words here. ICICI Direct is easily the most expensive broker. And here are the broking charges.
Here are the details of its iSecure plan
Brokerage flat charges – .55% irrespective of turnover
5. SHAREKHAN
Sharekhan is a popular online broker that captured popular sentiment courtesy of all the tv advertising spots it bought for itself. BNP Paribas acquired it in 2015..
Here are the account opening and maintenance fees
You can open a trading and demat account for free. There are no account opening charges, only an annual fee of Rs 400.
A number of trading segments including BSE, NSE, IPO access, futures and options, including currency and commodities is available on the platform.
The pricing structure is simple. With prepaid options. Absolutely no payment gateway processing fee.
Intraday charges: 0.1% when buying and selling is levied. Starts at a minimum of 5 paisa.
Equity Delivery Charges: 0.5% on buying and selling subject to 10 paise per share.
Equity Futures: 0.1% for the first leg, .02% for the second leg.
Options: Rs 100 per lot or 2.5% of premium
6. INDIABULLS
Indiabulls ventures has its hands in all kinds of pots. Among other finance options also provides online brokerage.
You pay rs 750 for opening a demat and trading account.
There are no annual maintenance charges for the accounts.
Here are the brokerage details. The pricing is simple to follow.
The power Indiabulls lists the following charges
For equity delivery the charges are .3% and for intraday .03%
Equity Futures .03%
Equity Options and currency options are Rs.100/Lot
Currency Futures .03%
Commodity .03%
KOTAK
Kotak bank offers its online brokerage and just like icici you get a bank account, a demat account and finally a trading account.
There’s availability of trading in BSE and NSE, along with futures and options, IPO. You also get access to financial advisory, mutual fund investment, life insurance and others.
The account opening charges tally to rs 750 with rs 50 as monthly account maintenance charges.
You can trade in currency derivatives or commodity trading.
A number of features are available
Kotaksecurities.com : Online website for stock trading and investment.
KEAT Pro X : the desktop version of the trading account that has many features like charts and algo trading
Kotak Stock Trader: A mobile app for the ones who like to trade on the go !
The plans are three: dynamic, fixed, silver and pearl brokerage plans.
Here are the charges
| BROKERAGE STRUCTURE | |
| Delivery | 0.49% |
| Square off (Both Sides) | 0.049% |
| Futures (Both Sides) | 0.049% |
| Options | Rs 300 Per Lot |
| Minimum Brokerage | 4 paise for delivery and 3 paise for Intraday and Futures orders |
Call & Trade facility free for first 20 calls. From the 21st call, you pay Rs. 20 per call.
When you begin applying you might see that some of the fees and account opening charges are different than what’s listed here. It’s important that the fee and charges change from time to time. There are also additional taxes.
A discount broker is your best bet if you want to test the waters first before exploring stock trading fully.
Upstox
Upstox is a trading platform and a discount broker like Zerodha. All modern features like charts, analysis and other rich trading features are part of the package.
With it its easy to place ordes through the most basic of conveniences like mobile phones.
You can place orders on any browser.
The trading account is free with free trading in equity delivery. The pro account enables you to trade in futures and options, intra day as well as commodity and currency derivates.
It’s the paid version of the free platform.
Disclaimer:This is by no means professional advice from a financial consultant. There’s risk in trading and please be aware of that.
