How to avoid entering CDSL TPIN and OTP every time you sell on Zerodha
To stop entering a CDSL TPIN and a one-time password on every Zerodha sell, activate the Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction , or DDPI, from Console . The TPIN-and-OTP prompt appears because your demat runs on eDIS , where CDSL makes you authorise each debit individually and the authorisation expires the same day. DDPI is a one-time standing mandate that lets your broker debit sold securities straight to the exchange, so the per-sell authorisation step disappears.
This is a security feature, not a Zerodha quirk. CDSL holds the TPIN in its own database, outside the broker’s reach, precisely so that no broker can debit your holdings without an instruction CDSL can verify. eDIS makes you re-prove that instruction on every sell. DDPI replaces the repeated proof with a single signed mandate that SEBI has fenced to four narrow purposes. This guide explains the eDIS-versus-DDPI distinction, walks the activation, and sets out the one charge DDPI does not remove.
Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.
eDIS and DDPI: what the two authorisations actually do
The two routes exist because of a verification gap CDSL closed in 2020. Under an electronic delivery instruction slip , or eDIS, you authorise a specific debit of specific securities for a single settlement. CDSL introduced the TPIN facility on 1 June 2020 to plug a hole in the older eDIS flow: earlier the PIN was entered on the broker’s own platform, and CDSL had no way to verify that the broker had actually taken a valid instruction before debiting the account. The 6-digit CDSL TPIN fixed that. CDSL generates it, sends it to your registered mobile and email, and stores it in the CDSL database, so the authorisation is checked by the depository, not the broker.
The cost of that security is friction. An eDIS authorisation is valid for a maximum of one day, and CDSL caps it at 100 instruments at once. Sell three scrips on Monday and three on Tuesday and you authorise twice, with a fresh TPIN and OTP each time. You can pre-authorise holdings after 7:00 AM for the same trading day, but the authorisation still lapses by end of day.
DDPI removes the repetition. It is a standing instruction, signed once, that authorises the broker to debit securities for settlement without a per-sell TPIN. SEBI restricts what a DDPI can do to four purposes: transfer of securities to the exchange when you place a sell order; pledging and re-pledging for margin; debiting mutual fund units sold on exchange order-entry platforms; and tendering shares when you participate in a buyback, takeover or open offer . It cannot push securities off-market into a broker’s own account. That single restriction is the difference between DDPI and the old power of attorney that brokers misused.
| Attribute | eDIS (CDSL TPIN) | DDPI |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation frequency | Every sell, fresh each time | Once, standing |
| Authentication on each sell | 6-digit TPIN plus OTP | None |
| Validity | Maximum one day per authorisation | Until revoked |
| Per-batch limit | 100 instruments at once | Not applicable |
| Activation charge at Zerodha | None | Rs 100 plus 18 per cent GST (Zerodha, June 2026) |
| Covers MF and tendering | Through separate authorisations | Yes, within the four DDPI purposes |
| Can move securities off-market to broker | No | No |
Step-by-step procedure
The numbered box near the top of this guide gives the sequence. The detail below covers the parts people get wrong: confirming you are on eDIS first, and the Aadhaar e-sign.
1. Confirm why the TPIN prompt appears
The prompt means your account is on eDIS, with neither a POA nor a DDPI mapped. Check first, because activating a DDPI you already hold wastes the Rs 118 charge. The check route is in how to check whether POA or DDPI is active on Zerodha . If the status reads inactive for both, eDIS is your only current route and DDPI is the fix.
2. Open the DDPI activation page in Console
Log in to console.zerodha.com , open your profile, and find the DDPI section. Resident individuals see an online activation flow; minors activate through a guardian’s Aadhaar. Joint account holders, non-individual accounts and NRIs using Orbis custodial services do not get the online flow and must use the offline DDPI form instead, since the IT Act e-sign route is not available to those account types.
3. Enter your Aadhaar number and request the e-sign OTP
On the e-sign screen, enter your Aadhaar number and tap Send OTP. The OTP is sent by UIDAI to the mobile number linked to that Aadhaar, which may differ from your Zerodha-registered number. If you do not receive it, the Aadhaar-mobile link is the usual cause; update it at a UIDAI enrolment centre, not in Console.
4. Enter the OTP and complete Verify and Sign
Type the Aadhaar OTP and tap Verify and Sign. This e-signs the DDPI mandate under the Aadhaar e-sign framework. Keep at least Rs 118 in your trading balance, because Zerodha deducts the Rs 100 plus 18 per cent GST DDPI charge from it. A shortfall is a common reason an activation stalls.
5. Wait for activation within 24 working hours
Zerodha processes the DDPI within 24 working hours and sends a confirmation email. The TPIN and OTP prompt does not disappear the instant you e-sign; it stops only after the DDPI is mapped at the depository and the confirmation lands. Selling in the gap still routes through eDIS.
6. Sell without the TPIN prompt
Once activated, place a delivery sell in Kite as normal. No CDSL authorisation window, no TPIN, no OTP. The order goes straight to the exchange and the debit authorises against the standing DDPI mandate.
The one charge DDPI does not remove
DDPI removes the per-sell TPIN step, not the per-sell cost. Every delivery sell at Zerodha still attracts a depository participant debit charge of Rs 15.34 per scrip per day, made up of a Rs 3.5 CDSL fee, a Rs 9.5 Zerodha fee and Rs 2.34 GST (Zerodha charges schedule, as of June 2026). The charge is per ISIN per day, not per share, so selling 10 shares of one company or 1,000 costs the same Rs 15.34. A first-holder female demat account gets a Rs 0.25 discount on the CDSL component, and mutual fund and bond debits get a further Rs 0.25 off. None of this changes with DDPI; the charge is for the demat debit itself, not the authorisation method. Treat the Rs 118 DDPI charge as a one-time convenience fee that buys you out of the TPIN keystrokes, not the DP charges .
Why this is the safer authorisation, not a weaker one
Activating a standing mandate sounds like reopening the door SEBI shut after the POA scandals. It is not, and the reason is the four-purpose limit. The power of attorney that Karvy Stock Broking misused let the broker move securities anywhere, including into its own account; SEBI found Karvy had transferred securities worth about Rs 2,300 crore belonging to more than 95,000 clients by misusing client POAs. DDPI cannot do that. Its mandate is confined by SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/DoP/P/CIR/2022/44, dated 4 April 2022, to delivery, pledging, on-exchange mutual fund debits and tendering, all of which deliver securities to the exchange or a regulated pledge, never to a broker’s own demat. The history of why POA was discontinued and DDPI built in its place is set out in Zerodha POA discontinued history . For the per-sell route you keep if you would rather not sign any mandate, see how to sell without POA or DDPI on Zerodha .
See also
- Zerodha
- Zerodha Console
- Kite by Zerodha
- How to sell without POA or DDPI on Zerodha
- How to check whether POA or DDPI is active on Zerodha
- How to revoke POA or DDPI mapped to Zerodha
- Zerodha POA discontinued history
- POA to DDPI transition
- How to sign DDPI on Zerodha
- How to convert POA to DDPI
- Zerodha DDPI charge
- Zerodha eDIS TPIN OTP
- CDSL TPIN
- How to generate CDSL TPIN on Zerodha
- How to recover a forgotten CDSL TPIN on Zerodha
- TPIN pre-authorisation on Zerodha
- Validity of CDSL TPIN
- CDSL TPIN regime and eDIS
- Delivery instruction slip
- CDSL block mechanism for pay-in
- CDSL
- Depository
- Depository participant
- Demat account
- SEBI
- DDPI requirement for SLB
- Zerodha off-market transfer charges
- Demat and remat of MF units
External references
- Zerodha support: What is DDPI and how to activate it online?
- Zerodha support: What is CDSL TPIN and how to use it for selling holdings
- Zerodha support: Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI)
- Zerodha charges
- SEBI: Execution of Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI), implementation circular
- CDSL India
References
- SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/DoP/P/CIR/2022/44, dated 4 April 2022, Execution of Demat Debit and Pledge Instruction (DDPI) for transfer of securities towards deliveries and settlement obligations and pledging and re-pledging of securities.
- SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/DoP/P/CIR/2022/91, dated 30 June 2022, extension of the DDPI implementation date to 1 September 2022.
- Zerodha support, What is DDPI and how to activate it online? (as of 20 June 2026): activation charge Rs 100 plus 18 per cent GST, 24-working-hour processing.
- Zerodha support, What is CDSL TPIN? (as of 20 June 2026): eDIS valid for a maximum of one day, 100-instrument batch limit, pre-authorisation after 7:00 AM.
- Zerodha charges schedule (as of 20 June 2026): DP debit charge Rs 15.34 per scrip per day (Rs 3.5 CDSL, Rs 9.5 Zerodha, Rs 2.34 GST).
WebNotes Editorial Team prepares factual how-to guides based on publicly available regulatory documents and broker disclosures. WebNotes is not affiliated with Zerodha Broking Limited. Procedures and charges are subject to change; verify current requirements at support.zerodha.com before acting.