Comparison of Brokers in India

Last updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A comprehensive report on major brokers (BSE and NSE) comparing details such as demat account opening fees, brokerage charges, annual maintenance charges, supported browsers, features etc. Subscribing to a broker requires a PAN number. Details of how to acquire your PAN number are listed at the end of this report.

Support for browsers other than Internet Explorer 6.0 is gradually improving. Since the time this article was first written, a few brokerage houses have added support for other browsers, such as, Netscape, Firefox and Opera.

note Had a good/bad experience with a broker? Please share your views. Raise awareness with your ratings and comments. Move mouse over 'Your view' bars, choose your rating and click to vote.

note Try the brokerage calculator to quickly check fees charged by each broker.
When opening a new demat account with a broker negotiate and try to get some of the charges waived off.

Angel Broking

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 740
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free. Rs 300 second year on.
Brokerage: 50p (delivery‡), 10p intra-day, Rate negotiable for bulk orders.
Browsers: IE 6.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Canmoney

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 500
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free. Rs 200 second year onwards.
Brokerage: 0.35% (delivery‡). Purchase - NIL Sale - 0.05% (intra-day) (Min Rs 20; Max Rs 500).
Browsers: IE 5.5+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Geojit BNP Paribas

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 650
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Rs 300
Brokerage: 0.30% (delivery‡). 0.03% (intra-day)
Browsers: IE 6.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

HDFC Securities

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 799
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free. Rs 500 second year onwards.
Brokerage: Higher of Rs 25 or 0.5% of transaction value (delivery).
Higher of Rs 25 or 0.1% of transaction value (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 5.0+, NN 8.1+ and FF 1.5+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

ICICI Direct

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 975
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free; Second year on Rs 500 (paper statements), Rs 450 (email statements)
Brokerage: Higher of Rs 25 or 0.75% (delivery).
Higher of Rs 15 or 0.05% of transaction value (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 5.5+ , NN 4.7 and FF 2.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

IDBI Paisabuilder

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 499 (basic plan), Rs 700+ (turnover based plan)
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free; Second year on Rs 350
Brokerage: 0.65% (delivery), 0.06% (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 6.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Indiabulls

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 900
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Nil
Brokerage: 0.35% (delivery). 0.05% (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 4.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

India Infoline

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 555 (waived off for employees of MNCs†)
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Nil
Brokerage: 50p (delivery). 5p (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 4.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Kotak Securities

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 750 (Rs 250 credited in new account) (waived off for employees of MNCs†)
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Rs 360
Brokerage: 0.59% (delivery). 0.6% (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 6.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Reliance Money

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 750 (waived off for employees of MNCs†)
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Rs 200
Brokerage: 1p (delivery and intra-day‡).
Browsers: IE 6.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Religare

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 500
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Rs 250
Brokerage: 0.3% (delivery‡). 0.06% (intra-day) 0.06% (futures).
Browsers: IE 5.5+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

SBI

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 400
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): Rs 400
Brokerage: 0.5% (delivery). 0.15% (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 6.0+ and FF 1.5+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

Sharekhan

Your view:

Account Opening Charge (AOC): Rs 750 Online, (Rs 500 Offline, plus Rs 160 franking charge)
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC): First year free. Rs 300 second year onwards.
Brokerage: Higher of 0.5% or 10 paise/share (delivery). Higher of 0.1% or 5 paise/share (intra-day).
Browsers: IE 6.0+ and Opera 7.0+
Interface:

AOC
AMC
Brokerage
Browsers
Interface

online Online phone Phone branch Branch
† Limited to certain multi-national corporations.
‡ Per transaction (buy/sell).

Brokerage Calculator Trade Type Transaction Type (Buy/Sell) Broker Transaction Amount Brokerage (Rs)

Broker charges
Find out how much brokers charge for delivery and intra-day trades. The brokerage calculator allows you to assess cost of trade involved with each broker compared above. Remember, trades may incur additional charges such as 'securities transaction tax', 'educational cess' etc.

While making a decision some consideration must also be given to the payment gateways used by brokers. A payment gateway is (in most cases) a bank that allows its account holders to transfer funds to their brokers for investing/trading. So, before you make a decision check whether your bank is the authorised gateway for the broker.

Documents needed to open a brokerage account

To open a brokerage (demat) account you will need to furnish copies of the following documents.

1. PAN card - this is a mandatory requirement. (Here is NSDL's official site to apply for a PAN card.)
2. address proof - you may submit a copy of one of the following to fulfill this requirement
       passport
       voter id card
       ration card
       driving license
       telephone or electricity bill

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