Why iceberg and MIS orders are not allowed for some stocks on Kite

Iceberg and MIS intraday orders disappear from the Kite order window for a stock when that scrip sits under a surveillance framework, in the trade-to-trade segment, has thin liquidity, or carries a narrow circuit band. In those cases Kite removes the MIS and cover order (CO) products and the iceberg slicing option, leaving only CNC delivery for that symbol. The block is not a glitch; it is the broker and the exchange withdrawing leverage and order-slicing from a scrip where same-day netting or hidden size would raise settlement risk or aid price manipulation.

Zerodha states the policy directly: intraday (MIS and CO) orders are disabled for stocks that are volatile, illiquid, carry a small circuit-limit range, demand high margin, or fall under a regulatory category such as trade-to-trade (T2T) , Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM) , or the unsolicited-SMS list. When intraday is removed, only long-term CNC orders remain placeable for that stock. The iceberg feature follows the same logic: it is withdrawn on scrips where slicing a large order into repeated same-price tranches could mislead the order book or resemble a layering pattern.

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 pages that carry a referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission on the surveillance rules described here.

What the block looks like on Kite

Open the order window for the affected stock and the change is visible at the product row. The MIS toggle is greyed out or absent, the CO product is gone, and the iceberg checkbox or “more options” slice control no longer appears. Only CNC is selectable. On some scrips Kite also surfaces a nudge explaining the surveillance stage before you confirm, the same nudge family that fires for penny stocks and pledged-promoter names.

The block is per scrip and per session, not account-wide. A trader can run an MIS position in a liquid index constituent and, in the same session, find MIS disabled on a small-cap that entered an ASM stage that morning. The eligibility flows from the exchange surveillance file and Zerodha’s risk overlay, both refreshed each trading day.

The five reasons intraday is withdrawn

Zerodha groups the causes into market-risk and regulatory buckets. Each removes leverage for a different reason.

Surveillance frameworks: ASM, GSM, ESM

The three surveillance frameworks are run by NSE and BSE jointly with SEBI to curb speculative excess in specific scrips. Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM) places a stock under tighter monitoring, often raising the margin to 100 per cent and, at higher stages, moving it to trade-to-trade settlement. Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM) targets scrips with weak fundamentals trading at stretched valuations; its higher stages impose trade-to-trade settlement, periodic call auctions, and additional surveillance deposits up to 100 per cent or 200 per cent of trade value. The Enhanced Surveillance Measure (ESM) covers micro-cap and small-cap names with low market value, applying a price band and trade-to-trade or call-auction settlement.

Each of these stages either raises the margin to the full contract value or forces delivery settlement. Intraday leverage assumes a position can be opened and closed within the session for a margin benefit. When the scrip is delivery-only or carries 100 per cent margin, that benefit vanishes, so MIS and CO have nothing to offer and are removed. The 100 per cent margin requirement on an ASM or GSM scrip means an intraday buyer must fund the trade in full anyway, identical to CNC.

Trade-to-trade settlement

A stock in the trade-to-trade segment must settle by delivery on a gross basis. The exchange does not net a buy against a sell in the same scrip within the day. A trader who buys 100 shares and sells 100 shares of a T2T stock on the same day takes delivery of the 100 bought and must deliver the 100 sold, two separate settlement obligations, not a flat intraday position. Intraday products exist to net within the session, so they are structurally incompatible with T2T and are disabled. This is the same rule that blocks BTST and same-day reversal on these scrips.

Liquidity and the circuit band

Beyond the named frameworks, Zerodha withdraws intraday from scrips that are simply too thin to support a forced exit. If a stock trades a few thousand shares a day, a leveraged position cannot be auto-squared-off near a fair price at 3:20 PM; the intraday auto-square-off might fill several per cent away or not at all, leaving the broker carrying the loss. A narrow circuit band compounds the problem: a 2 per cent or 5 per cent band stock can lock at its limit with no counterparty, trapping a leveraged trader who cannot exit before the band closes the book. Removing leverage on these names caps the loss exposure that the broker underwrites.

Why iceberg specifically is removed

Iceberg removal follows a related but distinct logic centred on market integrity rather than leverage. An iceberg order splits a large quantity into legs and submits one tranche at a time, hiding the residual size from the public order book. On a liquid scrip this reduces market impact, a legitimate use. On a thin or surveilled scrip, repeated submission of identically sized tranches at one price level can paint a misleading picture of demand or supply, the same effect that SEBI’s market-manipulation framework treats as layering when done to deceive. To avoid offering a tool that could be misused on a flagged scrip, Zerodha withdraws iceberg on the surveillance and trade-to-trade lists, leaving the standard single limit order with optional disclosed quantity , which the exchange controls directly.

The withdrawal also tracks liquidity. Iceberg relies on each tranche filling so the next can be released. In a contract with a few hundred lots of depth, tranches stall, the order rests unfilled, and the hidden-size benefit never materialises. Zerodha therefore pares iceberg eligibility to scrips with enough depth for the slicing to work as intended.

What you can still do on a blocked scrip

The block removes leverage and slicing, not the ability to trade. You can place a CNC delivery order at a limit price, buy and take delivery on T+1, or sell shares you already hold. Because the position is delivery-based, it carries no auto-square-off and no intraday margin penalty. If you wanted leverage purely for capital efficiency, the margin trading facility (MTF) may cover a subset of these names on a funded, delivery basis, though MTF eligibility lists are themselves trimmed for surveillance scrips. For a price-protected near-market fill on an illiquid name, use a limit order placed at or just beyond the best opposing quote rather than a market order, which the exchange may itself block on the thinnest scrips.

If you specifically need to hide size on a liquid scrip and the iceberg option is missing only because of a temporary surveillance flag, the disclosed-quantity parameter on a standard limit order is the exchange-level alternative, since it sets a visible fraction without the platform-level tranche resubmission that iceberg performs.

When the restriction lifts

Surveillance and trade-to-trade designations are reviewed on a fixed cadence. NSE and BSE publish revised ASM, GSM and ESM lists, typically with effect from the start of a settlement cycle, and a scrip that exits a stage regains its earlier order-type eligibility on the next exchange file update. Zerodha’s intraday and iceberg eligibility follows that file, so the products reappear on the order window without any action from the trader once the scrip is destaged. There is no support ticket to raise; the change is automatic and exchange-driven.

See also

• Zerodha
• Kite (Zerodha)
• Iceberg order on Kite
• MIS product code
• CNC product code
• NRML product code
• Cover order (CO) on Zerodha
• Disclosed quantity orders
• Limit order on Kite
• Market order on Kite
• ASM (Additional Surveillance Measure) on Zerodha
• GSM (Graded Surveillance Measure) on Zerodha
• Trade-to-trade (T2T) stocks on Zerodha
• Circuit limits and price bands
• Intraday auto-square-off timings (MIS)
• Margin trading facility
• Kite nudges
• Penny stock block nudge on Kite
• How to fix circuit-limit rejection on Zerodha
• How to fix RMS rejection on Zerodha
• SEBI
• National Stock Exchange
• Bombay Stock Exchange
• Order validity types
• Trigger vs limit price

External references

• Zerodha support: Why are intraday (MIS/CO) orders not allowed for some stocks?
• Zerodha support: What are Trade-to-Trade (T2T) stocks?
• NSE: Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM)
• NSE: Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM)
• BSE: Surveillance measures and graded surveillance
• SEBI: market regulation and surveillance framework

References

1. Zerodha support, Why are intraday (MIS/CO) orders not allowed for some stocks? (as on 21 June 2026).
2. NSE and BSE Additional Surveillance Measure (ASM) framework, joint surveillance circulars.
3. NSE and BSE Graded Surveillance Measure (GSM) framework, joint surveillance circulars (additional surveillance deposit and trade-to-trade staging).
4. SEBI and exchanges, Enhanced Surveillance Measure (ESM) framework for low-market-value scrips.
5. SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations, 2003 (layering and misleading order-book conduct).