Certain intraday derivatives trading in Zerodha, one of India’s largest stockbrokers, is set to become expensive as the brokerage platform has doubled its brokerage fees.
Zerodha has increased the brokerage for certain intraday futures and options (F&O) trades to Rs 40 per order, up from its long-standing Rs 20 cap, from April 1, as declining volumes have raised the likelihood of similar moves by peers, reported Economic Times.
However, the revised charge will not apply to all traders.
In a client communication, the firm said, as reported by ET, that the higher charge applies to traders who do not meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s rule of maintaining at least 50 per cent of collateral in cash or its equivalents on an intraday basis.
Zerodha Broking Charges: What charges from April 1, 2026
At present, Zerodha bridges this gap using its own funds without charging clients. However, the intra-day futures and options trades funded by the broker will attract double the usual brokerage of Rs 20 per order from April 1. The higher fees, however, will not be applicable to intraday trades in stock trading.
Zerodha did not respond to requests for comment, reported ET.
As per the SEBI rules, traders are required to have at least 50 per cent of margin collateral, whether for intraday or overnight positions, to be held in cash or cash equivalents, while the remaining margin can be held in non-cash assets. Cash equivalents include cash, bank guarantees, fixed deposit receipts and approved securities, among others, as per NSE Clearing.
The pricing increase by Zerodha, which popularised the zero-brokerage model in India, comes as derivative volumes are under pressure from the proposed Securities Transaction Tax (STT) hike from April 1.
In the Union Budget 2026-27, the government proposed raising STT on futures to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent, and on options premiums to 0.15 per cent from 0.10 per cent. This move could pave the way for other firms to raise brokerage fees.
While many brokers do not charge for intraday shortfalls in cash collateral, interest of 9 per cent to 18 per cent per annum is usually charged on overnight or carry-forward positions. With revenues getting under strain, brokerages are looking to soften the blow through other avenues.
“We are at a point where we might have to borrow funds in the near future to provide collateral for you all. Borrowed funds come at a cost.” Kamath said the firm could have charged a percentage fee for accounts going into debit, as some brokers do.
“But we realised the impact due to that would be a lot more than charging a higher brokerage for trades executed only when your account is in debit, or when you don’t have at least 50% in cash while trading on collateral,” he said.
