How to handle a partially filled order on Zerodha

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A partial fill occurs when only part of your order quantity matches available counterparty orders in the exchange order book. The filled portion becomes an executed trade; the unfilled portion remains as a live order in the book, waiting for matching orders at your limit price.

Partial fills are most common with limit orders in low-liquidity stocks or when the order size is large relative to the available depth at the limit price. They also occur in fast-moving markets where the price moves away from your limit price after a partial match.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes only. WebNotes has no commercial relationship with Zerodha, NSE, or BSE.

Prerequisites

  • An active Zerodha trading account with Kite access.
  • A basic understanding of limit orders and the product codes CNC, MIS, and NRML.

Step 1: Identify the partial fill in the Kite order book

Open the Orders tab on Kite web or the mobile app. Orders are listed with their status.

An order with status Open and a filled quantity greater than zero is a partial fill. Click or tap the order row to expand the detail panel, which shows:

  • Filled Qty: how many units have been traded.
  • Pending Qty: how many units remain unfilled at the exchange.
  • Average Fill Price: the volume-weighted average price of the fills received so far.

The exchange time-stamps the individual fills within the partial-fill order. For limit orders, time priority in the book means fills happen as matching orders arrive at or better than your limit price.

Step 2: Understand the implications by product code

CNC (delivery equity)

The filled portion is a confirmed trade. Shares will be credited to your demat account after T+1 settlement. The unfilled portion remains as a live limit order until it fills, you cancel it, or the market closes. At market close (3:30 PM for equity), any unfilled quantity in a CNC limit order is typically cancelled by the exchange at the end-of-day close (DAY validity). If you placed the order with GTD (Good Till Day) validity, it is cancelled at market close on the day.

MIS (intraday equity or F&O)

Both the filled portion and the unfilled portion must be squared off before 3:20 PM (Zerodha’s auto-square-off time). At 3:20 PM, Zerodha’s system:

  • Cancels the unfilled residual order.
  • Places a market sell order (or buy to cover) for the filled portion to square off the open intraday position.

MIS auto-square-off can result in unfavourable fill prices near market close. It is good practice to manually manage partial fills in MIS well before 3:20 PM.

NRML (overnight F&O)

The filled portion is an overnight position. The unfilled portion remains as a live limit order. At end of day, if the order has DAY validity, the unfilled residual is cancelled. If you placed the order with IOC (Immediate or Cancel) validity, the unfilled quantity is cancelled immediately at placement, so you only receive the fill up to the available depth.

Step 3: Choose your action on the unfilled quantity

You have three options:

Option A: Wait

Leave the order open. If the price returns to your limit price and matching counterparty orders are available, the remaining quantity will fill. This is appropriate in liquid instruments where the price temporarily moved away.

Option B: Modify the order price

Modify the limit price of the open order to be closer to the current market price to improve the probability of an immediate fill.

  1. In the Orders tab, tap the open partial-fill order.
  2. Tap Modify.
  3. Change the limit price to a more aggressive level (higher for a buy, lower for a sell).
  4. Confirm the modification.

Note: modifying the price may cause the order to lose its time priority in the exchange order book, placing it behind other orders at the new price.

Option C: Cancel the remaining quantity

If you do not want to wait or modify:

  1. Tap the open partial-fill order in the Orders tab.
  2. Tap Cancel.
  3. Confirm.

The unfilled quantity is cancelled at the exchange. Only the already-filled quantity is a confirmed trade. You will receive confirmation of the cancellation in the Orders tab.

Step 4: Manage the filled quantity as a position

After deciding on the residual, address the filled portion:

For CNC buys. The shares acquired in the partial fill will appear in your Holdings section the evening of T+1. No further action is needed for settlement.

For MIS buys. You must square off the open long position (the filled quantity) before 3:20 PM by placing a sell order for the same quantity. If you intended to hold the position overnight, you can convert the MIS position to CNC by going to the Positions tab and tapping Convert on the position row, provided you have sufficient CNC margin.

For sell orders with a partial fill. If you were selling shares from Holdings using CNC and only part of the quantity sold, the remaining shares are still in your Holdings. The sold quantity will be debited from your Holdings after settlement. If you want to sell the remaining quantity, place a new sell order.

What can go wrong

Multiple partial fills at different prices. Each partial fill within the same order may execute at a slightly different price, especially if the order spans multiple price levels in the book. Kite shows the average fill price across all fills. The Console trade report lists each individual fill separately.

IOC order with a partial fill. If you placed an order with IOC (Immediate or Cancel) validity, the exchange fills whatever is immediately available at the limit price and cancels the rest instantly. IOC partial fills cannot be re-opened; you must place a new order for the remaining quantity.

Position shows MIS when you intended CNC. If you accidentally placed the filled portion as MIS, convert the position to CNC before the auto-square time (3:20 PM) if you have sufficient CNC margin. If you do not convert in time, Zerodha’s system will auto-square the position.

Partial fill on sell triggers DP auction. If you sold shares from Holdings that you did not receive (e.g., the T+1 credit had not arrived yet), the filled sell quantity may be short-delivered, triggering an auction. See How to fix a DP-related sell rejection on Zerodha for context on DP and short-delivery scenarios.

Escalation path

Partial fills are a normal exchange mechanism and are not errors. However, if you believe an order was incorrectly partially filled due to a platform issue or if the order modification or cancellation failed during a technical problem on Kite, raise a support ticket at support.zerodha.com with the order ID and a description of the issue.

References

  1. NSE India, “Order types and matching rules,” NSE Trading Rules, nseindia.com.
  2. BSE India, “Trading rules and regulations,” bseindia.com.
  3. Zerodha Support, “What does a partial fill mean and what should I do?” support.zerodha.com.
  4. Zerodha Z-Connect Blog, “Understanding order types on Kite,” zerodha.com/z-connect.
  5. SEBI, “Circular on order management and execution standards,” sebi.gov.in.

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