Discount brokers in India

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A discount broker in India is a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered stockbroker that charges a flat fee per executed order rather than a percentage of the transaction value. The flat-fee model, typically set at Rs 20 per order for intraday and derivatives trades, is the defining commercial characteristic that separates discount brokers from traditional full-service brokers, which charge 0.30 to 0.75 per cent of transaction value or more for equity delivery trades. Equity delivery trades (held overnight or longer) are offered at zero brokerage by most leading discount brokers.

Zerodha discount-broker disruption (history)

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Zerodha’s introduction of flat-fee discount brokerage in India in 2010 is widely regarded as the most significant structural disruption to the country’s retail stockbroking industry since equity trading moved online in the late 1990s. Prior to Zerodha, every retail stockbroker in India charged commissions as a percentage of the traded value, an arrangement that had prevailed for decades and that transferred substantial wealth from active traders to intermediaries. Zerodha’s twenty-rupee-per-order flat fee undermined the economic rationale of the percentage-commission model and forced incumbents to respond over the following decade.

Flat Fee Brokerage on WebNotes

Discount brokers in India

Zerodha discount-broker disruption (history)