How-to How to Zerodha demat transfer CDSL Easiest closure cum transfer

How to link or transfer holdings from an external demat to Zerodha

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated . Reading time ~10 min. Level: Intermediate.

There is a common misreading in “linking an external demat to Zerodha.” You cannot operate another depository participant’s demat account from inside Zerodha; Kite and Console show only the demat that Zerodha itself maintains as your depository participant. What is actually achievable, and what almost everyone asking the question wants, is to move your existing holdings into a Zerodha demat so that everything sits in one place. This guide covers that transfer-in, by the three routes Zerodha documents: an online CDSL Easiest transfer, a physical delivery instruction slip, and the closure-cum-transfer route that also shuts the old account.

This guide is for someone who already holds a Zerodha demat, or is opening one, and wants their shares from another broker moved across. The routes, forms, charges, and caveats below come from Zerodha’s own support documentation as of 19 June 2026.

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.

What “linking” actually means here

A demat account is held with one depository participant at a time, and the depository, CDSL or NSDL, keeps the holdings in your name under a beneficial owner ID. Zerodha is its own depository participant on CDSL. You cannot pull another broker’s demat into the Zerodha interface or operate it through Kite; the two accounts stay separate at the depository level. The practical equivalent of “linking” is a securities transfer that moves stock from the external demat into the Zerodha demat, after which all the holdings appear together in Kite and Console. The rest of this guide is about that transfer.

Step-by-step procedure

The numbered Procedure infobox near the top of this page lists the steps for the transfer-in flow. The subsections below expand each route, since the path splits depending on whether you keep or close the old account.

1. Get the Zerodha Client Master Report from Console

Every route needs the receiving demat’s details, which live in the Zerodha Client Master Report , or CMR. Download it from console.zerodha.com. The CMR lists the Zerodha demat BO ID, the depository participant ID, and the account-holder details that the source side uses to direct the transfer. Where the existing broker processes a physical closure or transfer, it will ask for a signed and sealed CMR; Zerodha can provide a physically or digitally signed and sealed copy on request.

2. Decide between keeping or closing the old demat account

The route turns on a single decision. If you want to keep the old demat account open, perhaps it holds locked-in securities, or you want to move only part of the portfolio, you do an off-market transfer , either online via CDSL Easiest or on paper via a delivery instruction slip. These carry depository transaction charges. If you want the old account gone, you use closure cum transfer, which regulations require brokers to provide for free and which moves everything at once.

One rule applies across both routes for joint accounts: the holder order must match. If the source demat has Mr A as primary and Mr B as secondary, the Zerodha demat must also have Mr A as primary and Mr B as secondary, not reversed, or the transfer will not go through.

3. For an online transfer, set up the beneficiary on CDSL Easiest

This route applies when the source demat is on CDSL and the existing broker permits online transfers; confirm both first. Register on CDSL Easiest and log in at web.cdslindia.com. First-time users must change the default PIN at the Easiest login before transacting.

Inside Easiest, click Setup under Transactions, then Bulk Setup, and add the Zerodha demat BO ID as a trusted beneficiary, selecting NA from the Entity Identifier dropdown. Add the beneficiary before you raise any instruction; skipping this produces the “Active link between seller and buyer does not exist” error at submission.

4. Enter the transfer instruction and authorise it

With the Zerodha BO ID added as a beneficiary, click Transaction, enter the execution date, then click Account ISINs, select the ISINs to move, and enter the quantity and a trade reason for each. Pay stamp duty online if it applies. Then Submit, click Verify, click Commit, and enter the OTP. Authorise with the 8-digit alphanumeric CDSL Easiest PIN, which is different from the 6-digit TPIN used elsewhere. The existing broker then approves the debit from the source demat, and the shares land in the Zerodha demat, usually within a working day or two.

If the source demat is on NSDL rather than CDSL, CDSL Easiest does not apply. Check the NSDL broker’s own off-market transfer process, or use the delivery instruction slip route below.

The delivery instruction slip route

Where online transfer is not available, the manual instrument is a delivery instruction slip, or DIS, obtained from the existing broker. Fill in the Zerodha demat details from the CMR and submit the slip to the existing broker, which executes the debit. The slip type depends on the depositories involved: a transfer that crosses between NSDL and CDSL uses an inter-depository slip, while a transfer within the same depository uses an intra-depository slip. A DIS is the fallback when the source broker is on NSDL or does not support an online transfer.

5. For closure cum transfer, submit the forms and CMR to the existing broker

To close the old account and move everything in one action, use closure cum transfer. Obtain the closure-cum-transfer forms from the existing broker and fill them out. Attach the physically or digitally signed and sealed Zerodha CMR. Submit both to the existing broker, which transfers all holdings to the Zerodha demat and closes the source account. Regulations mandate that brokers provide closure cum transfer for free, so this route carries no transfer charge. Some brokers, Zerodha included, support an online closure-cum-transfer flow; check whether the existing broker offers it before defaulting to paper.

One hard limit applies: securities under a lock-in period cannot move from CDSL to NSDL or NSDL to CDSL through closure cum transfer. They can move within the same depository, CDSL to CDSL or NSDL to NSDL, but a cross-depository transfer of locked-in stock is not permitted. If your old demat is on a different depository from Zerodha’s CDSL and holds locked-in shares, those shares stay put until the lock-in ends.

Charges, refunds, and what to expect after the transfer

The off-market transfer route via CDSL Easiest or a DIS attracts the depository’s per-stock transfer charge. Zerodha refunds these charges up to Rs 30 per stock, capped at Rs 500 in total, for transfers into both new and existing Zerodha accounts. The closure-cum-transfer route is free at the source broker by regulation. After a successful transfer, the holdings appear under your holdings in Kite and Console, but the buy average shows as “N/A” until you enter the original purchase prices manually, since the receiving system has no record of what you originally paid. Updating those prices keeps your profit-and-loss and your securities transaction tax and capital-gains calculations accurate.

See also

External references

References

  1. Zerodha support, “How to transfer shares from other brokers to Zerodha?”, support.zerodha.com (accessed 19 June 2026).
  2. Zerodha support, “How to transfer shares from my Zerodha account to other CDSL demat account using CDSL Easiest?”, support.zerodha.com (accessed 19 June 2026).
  3. SEBI Depositories and Participants Regulations 2018, on demat transfers and account closure.
  4. CDSL operating instructions for Easiest (Electronic Access to Securities Information and Execution of Secured Transactions).

Related articles

Reviewed and published by

WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

Last reviewed
Conflicts of interest
WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.