BSE revised transaction charges and the true-to-label circular

BSE revised transaction charges are the equity-cash and derivatives transaction fees the Bombay Stock Exchange has levied since 1 October 2024, when it replaced its volume-based slab pricing with a uniform per-unit charge to comply with SEBI’s true-to-label circular. The transaction charge is the fee the exchange takes on every trade it clears, passed through to the client by the broker. After the revision it is the same per unit of turnover for every broker, regardless of how much that broker trades.

This article sets out what BSE levies now, why the structure changed, and how the figures compare to the National Stock Exchange . It connects to the broader exchange transaction charges reference, which covers NSE and MCX alongside BSE, and to the Zerodha hidden charges note, where the exchange charge sits as one line in the trade-cost stack. Every rate carries its source and as-of date; verify against the BSE notices and the SEBI circular before relying on a figure.

The true-to-label circular

SEBI issued the circular titled “Charges levied by Market Infrastructure Institutions, True to Label” as SEBI/HO/MRD/TPD-1/P/CIR/2024/92 on 1 July 2024. It carried two directives. First, any charge a broker, depository participant or clearing member levies on the end client must match the amount the market infrastructure institution actually receives, so the disclosure to the client is accurate. Second, the institutions must adopt a uniform charge structure, ending the volume-based slab system under which a higher-volume broker paid the exchange less per unit of turnover.

The structure SEBI dismantled worked in the broker’s favour and against transparency. Exchanges charged brokers on monthly aggregate turnover, with the rate falling as volume rose, while brokers recovered transaction charges from clients on a daily, per-trade basis at the highest published slab. A high-volume broker collected at the top-slab rate from clients but paid the exchange at a lower slab, keeping the difference. SEBI’s circular described the concern in its own terms: the slab structure could impede equal and fair access by favouring larger members, and the mismatch between daily recovery from clients and monthly payment to the institution could leave clients charged more than the institution received.

SEBI also directed that the new uniform structure should pass the benefit to clients rather than to the institutions: the revised per-unit charges should give due consideration to existing realised charges so that end clients see a reduction. The institutions had to design the new structure to take effect from 1 October 2024.

What BSE levies now

BSE published revised charges on 27 September 2024 to take effect on 1 October 2024, moving every segment to a flat per-unit fee. The rates below are those in force as of 20 June 2026 (BSE transaction-charge notices).

The equity-cash charge of 0.00375 per cent applies to Group A and Group B scrips and other non-exclusive scrips; thinly traded and surveillance-category scrips can carry different treatment. The headline derivatives figure is the Sensex and Bankex options charge of Rs 3,250 per crore of premium turnover, which is the segment that drove most of BSE’s transaction revenue after the exchange’s options franchise grew. The nil charge on futures is a structural feature of BSE’s tariff, not an introductory waiver.

Each of these is an exchange charge and attracts GST at 18 per cent, the same treatment as on NSE, detailed in GST on broking charges . The exchange charge is separate from brokerage, securities transaction tax , stamp duty and the SEBI turnover fee , all of which appear as distinct lines on the contract note.

What changed for the trader

For most retail cash-segment traders, the equity-cash rate barely moved, so the October 2024 revision was close to neutral. The visible impact landed on high-turnover options traders. Under the old slab system a large broker passed on the lowest realised rate and the exchange effectively subsidised the most active members; once the uniform rate replaced the slab, the per-unit charge on options turnover rose for those who had benefited from the volume tiers. Several brokers’ effective charges on options went up from 1 October 2024 because the rebate model behind the lowest slab disappeared.

The circular ended the broker rebate arrangement, under which an exchange shared revenue with a broker based on monthly turnover, most consequentially in options. After 1 October 2024 a broker no longer earns a turnover-linked rebate from the exchange, which removed a revenue stream that some zero-brokerage and low-brokerage models had relied on. For the client, the change improved disclosure accuracy: the transaction charge shown on the contract note now equals what the exchange receives, with no slab arbitrage in between.

BSE compared to NSE

The two exchanges set their tariffs independently, and the gaps are meaningful for an active trader choosing where liquidity sits. Rates as of 20 June 2026:

On equity cash, NSE is cheaper at 0.00297 per cent against BSE’s 0.00375 per cent. On equity options, BSE is marginally cheaper on premium turnover at Rs 3,250 per crore against NSE’s Rs 3,503 per crore, one factor behind the migration of options volume to BSE’s weekly Sensex and Bankex contracts. On futures, BSE’s nil charge against NSE’s 0.00173 per cent is the starkest gap, though futures volume on BSE is a fraction of NSE’s. The right comparison for any given strategy depends on where the liquidity for that instrument actually sits, because a lower charge on an illiquid contract is offset by a wider bid-ask spread.

These figures feed the per-segment tables in the broader exchange transaction charges note. A trader pricing a strategy should combine the exchange charge with the securities transaction tax , the SEBI turnover fee , stamp duty and brokerage to get the full per-trade cost, since the exchange charge alone is a small part of the total on most retail trades.

How the charge appears on the contract note

On a Zerodha contract note, the BSE transaction charge is shown as a single line under exchange charges for the relevant segment, not broken into the exchange’s internal components. The SEBI turnover fee and the IPFT levy may sit on adjacent lines. A trader reconciling a BSE trade should multiply the segment rate by the turnover, add 18 per cent GST, and match the result against the exchange-charge line, which after the true-to-label revision equals what BSE itself received.

Because the charge is now uniform across brokers, the figure on a Zerodha contract note for a BSE trade is the same per unit of turnover as on any other broker’s note for the identical trade. Differences in total cost between brokers come from brokerage, not from the exchange charge, which the broker passes through without markup.

See also

• Exchange transaction charges
• Bombay Stock Exchange
• National Stock Exchange
• SEBI turnover fee
• IPFT charges
• GST on broking charges
• Securities transaction tax
• STT and CTT on Zerodha trades
• Stamp duty for stockbroker trades
• Zerodha hidden charges
• Zerodha brokerage structure overview
• F&O options brokerage
• F&O futures brokerage
• Commodity transaction tax
• Multi Commodity Exchange
• Securities and Exchange Board of India
• SEBI investment management department
• NSE Clearing Limited
• Zerodha
• Kite by Zerodha
• Zerodha Console
• Is Zerodha safe
• Demat account
• CDSL
• Futures trading
• Upstox
• Angel One

External references

• BSE India
• SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MRD/TPD-1/P/CIR/2024/92
• NSE India transaction charges
• Zerodha support: transaction charges
• Zerodha charges

References

1. SEBI circular, “Charges levied by Market Infrastructure Institutions, True to Label”, SEBI/HO/MRD/TPD-1/P/CIR/2024/92, dated 1 July 2024.
2. BSE notice on revision of transaction charges effective 1 October 2024.
3. NSE intimation on revision of transaction charges in equity and currency segments effective 1 October 2024.
4. Zerodha support, “What are transaction charges and how do NSE, BSE and MCX calculate it”, support.zerodha.com (accessed 20 June 2026).
5. CGST Act 2017, Section 9, on GST applicability to exchange charges.