Zerodha Review, Brokerage Charges, Demat A/C, Trading Platforms

Zerodha review : Whenever it comes to finding out a name in the stockbroking domain that has set the foundation of discount broking in India, Zerodha is one name that most would say. This is what makes Zerodha a pioneer in the discount stockbroking domain. Here is a Zerodha review that would explain more about the leading online discount broker in the country. 

There was a time when they started the concept of discount broking in India and today when there are hundreds of discount broking following the same pattern, they are rewriting the history by leveraging the technology to keep that winning edge. Zerodha was set up on the 15th of August, 2010 where stockbroking was restricted for the wealthy due to the high brokerage involved with it. This is where Zerodha came in and brought the concept of discount broking by allowing everyone to step in the pool stock investment.

The name ‘Zerodha’ is made up of two elements – Zero and “Rodha”, which means barrier in Sanskrit.

Today, whenever the concept of discount broking is discussed, it remains incomplete without the mention of Zerodha. 

Be it any aspect of stockbroking, Zerodha takes an edge everywhere. At present, the innovative pricing models and self-made technology have made Zerodha the biggest stockbroker in the country in regard to active retail clients. 

It is really interesting to know that more than 8 million+ clients place millions of orders per day on Zerodha through its various trading platforms available today. 

Zerodha Review : About Zerodha Broking Limited

First and foremost, Zerodha is undoubtedly the No. 1 stockbroker in India. In fact, it is the largest and most popular stockbroker in the country which offers flat discount brokerage across investments in Equity, Commodity, Currency, IPO, and Direct Mutual Funds. 

In terms of active clients, Zerodha is the largest broker terms of active clients. 

The stockbroker was founded by Nithin Kamath, who earlier served as a stockbroker before launching his own broking house. Apart from highlighting the concept of discount broking in India, Zerodha is also known for leveraging innovative technology. 

Since its inception, Zerodha has been upkeeping its promise to deliver best-in-class stockbroking services to both stock traders and investors. Besides, the stockbroker provides timely market updates, avant-garde trading platforms, and flawless customer support at reasonable rates. 

Soon after its launch, Zerodha became popular due to its unique approach to managing the registered members across equity and derivative segments with simple and value-driven trading platforms. According to a study, Zerodha accounts for nearly 10% of the overall Indian retail trade capacity.

In addition, the stockbroker has been documented for the ‘Retail brokerage of the year 2018’ award by the National Stock Exchange, ‘Young Entrepreneur of the year (Startup) 2017’ award by Ernst & Young, and ‘Retail broker of the year 2017’ award by Outlook Money.

How to Open a Demat Account with Zerodha

Zerodha has worked a lot in this field by allowing stock investors to open a Demat account with utmost ease and value. When it comes to opening a Demat account with Zerodha, the process is quite easy.

Here is the process explained step-by-step:

1. Visit Zerodha.com.
2. Click on Open an account under the Account section in the footer of the page.
3. Enter your mobile number. An OTP will be sent to the same.
4. You need an Aadhaar linked mobile number to open an account online.
5. If the number is not linked, you would have to open an account offline.
6. Once your signup, you will be contacted by an authorized person from Zerodha who will take care of the physical verification.
7. You can also opt for e-KYC verification which can be done right from your mobile phone. Once the verification is done, you will get a login ID and password to operate the account. 
8. You can then login to your account and start trading. 

The actual Zerodha account opening time depends on the roadmap you take for the same. For example, if you have submitted an online application, you would get a Zerodha account within a few minutes. In the case of the offline request submission, it usually takes 2-3 days for the application to get processed. 

Zerodha Demat Account Opening Charges

It is the open-minded approach of Zerodha that makes it so popular among today’s investors. Whether you an intraday trade or an occasional trader, Zerodha has a plan for everyone. 

To indulge yourself in stock trading, you first need to open a trading account and a Demat account with Zerodha. It is important to have a Demat account is necessary to trade in stock markets.

There are three accounts types available with Zerodha:

• Trading account to perform trading in equity and currency derivatives
• Demat account to obtain the delivery of stocks
• Commodity account for commodity futures on MCX

The stockbroker also offers a 2-in-1 account (a mix of trading account and Demat account) to enable smoother transactions between two accounts. 

Documents Required for Account Opening

In order to open Zerodha account, the following documents would be required-

1. Copy of your PAN card.
2. Aadhar (Necessary for account opening).
3. Cancelled cheque or the most updated Bank statement.
4. Photo or scanned copy of your signature.
5. Income proof – 6 month Bank statement(For trading in Futures and options), Form -16, Latest salary slips, Demat holding statement, Income Tax Return Receipt, or Networth certificate from a CA.

Zerodha Brokerage Charges & Fees

It is the brokerage part of Zerodha that makes it on top of other discount brokers in the country. Brokerage refers to the charges you pay to avail of the services provided by Zerodha. 

Below are the Zerodha brokerage charges for commodities, equities, and currency derivative trading for Zerodha.

Using Zerodha brokerage charges calculator will give you an idea of the Zerodha brokerage amount you will have to pay.

Zerodha Brokerage Plans

As Zerodha’s brokerage plan is pretty simple, it is important to be aware of other applicable Zerodha trading charges that go along with the brokerage.

These statutory charges are a part of an investor’s charge base and are a discharge for the investors. Therefore, it is not only the 0.03% or the 20 that the investor is expected to spend, instead, but there would also be extra expenses too which are mentioned in the following Zerodha charges list:

*Stamp Duty Charges: On BUY Side (0.015% or ₹1500 / crore For Delivery; 0.003% or ₹300 / crore for Intraday and Options; 0.002% or ₹200 / crore for Futures; 0.0001% or ₹10 / crore for currency F&O; 0.002% or ₹200 / crore for Commodity Futures and 0.003% or ₹300 / crore for Commodity Options).

How to do Intraday Trading with Zerodha?

• To begin with intraday trading through Zerodha’s products and services, the first thing you need is a Demat and a trading account with the stockbroker
• Fill out the account opening form and submit and then you need to upload the required documents as per instructions given on the website. An executive will follow up with the rest of the details. Once your account becomes active, you will get a login ID and password from the Zerodha. 
• The next step is to log in using the User Id and password that has been sent and download the trading terminal app. You can also choose to work on the trading platform or the mobile trading platform. However, in the case of intraday trading and particularly for bulk trading, the trading terminal is the most preferred platform.
• Now choose the stocks that you wish to monitor and trade. Then prepare the market watchlist, which can also be created by following Zerodha intraday trading tips. Once this is done, you can start with trading. 
• To buy and sell the stocks, you will have to click on the specific share which you wish to trade and you would have to choose Intraday Trading from the two options to start trading.

Zerodha Intraday Charges or Zerodha Pricing

Intraday Brokerage Charge – 0.03% or ₹20/executed order whichever is lesser

In the case of trading in currencies, commodities, and equities, you would have to pay a maximum brokerage of ₹20.

Zerodha Intraday Margin

Intraday Margin Funding – Upto 5x

In the area of intraday trading, the margin is one of the most important factors. Zerodha Intraday Margin can reach up to 6 times which is much higher than other brokerage houses in India and particularly if you compare it with the discount stockbrokers.

Why You Should Choose Zerodha Trading account?

Below are some of the most promising reasons why Zerodha is a great choice for opening a trading account. 

• Zerodha has garnered immense trust and respect from today’s stock traders who love to work on modern-day trading platforms over conformist ones.
• The discount broker has bagged some of the most respected awards, such as the ‘Retail brokerage of the year 2018’ award, which was given to them by the National Stock Exchange, ‘Retail broker of the year 2017’ award that was bestowed by Outlook Money and ‘Young Entrepreneur of the year (Startup) 2017’ award that was given to them by Ernst & Young.
• They are known to be the biggest brokerage house in India in regard to the number of their active clients and the volume they underwrite towards the general transaction value of the leading exchanges in India.

Zerodha Product and Services

Zerodha offers a wide range of technology-led products and services that enable hassle-free and seamless stock trading. 

From the above table, it gets clear that Zerodha has an upper hand when it comes to offering advanced stock-based products across investments in Equity, Commodity, Currency, and Futures & Options.

Zerodha Services

Zerodha has a dedicated platform to educate stock investors with the name Varsity which all the useful information is mentioned in the form of Q&A related to markets and stock trading. The best thing is that it is free of cost and can be accessed by all. 

Zerodha Research & Advisory

Other Offerings by Zerodha

Z-connect blog – Z connect provides a huge amount of information related to investing and stock trading.

Pulse News – It helps investors stay updated with nearby activities. A brief note which includes all necessary details in regard to important news.

Circulars/Bulletin – Zerodha also offers a portion dedicated to giving the necessary circulars and bulletin, which the investors and general public should be abreast of.

IPOs – Zerodha offers IPO investment services to its investors.

Zerodha Exposure / Leverage

Transferring shares from other stock brokers

There are three options when it comes to transferring your shares from your current stock broker to Zerodha –

Closure cum transfer – By using this process, you can close your Demat account with your current stock broker and transfer your assets to Zerodha Demat account. You just need to submit a closure cum transfer form along with Zerodha Client Master Report (CMR) to your running broker. If the shares are locked in, it is not possible to transfer from CDSL to NSDL or vice versa.

Online transfer – Consult your existing broker to understand their process of share transfer.

Via Off-market transfer – If you don’t want to close your existing account, you can ask for the transfer of shares by submitting a DIS slip with the present stockbroker for the transfer of shares.

Zerodha Trading Platforms

Zerodha is known to have an edge in this area and offers a wide range of trading platforms to its clients. 

Zerodha Kite Web Platform

It is a web-based trading platform by Zerodha which allows investors to perform trading via a web browser. Zerodha Kite Web is based on HTML 5 and is a major part of Zerodha’s overall platform offerings. 

Its major features are mentioned below:

Multi-Lingual Platform

The app comes in ten different local languages other than English which makes the experience of using it for the users easy and seamless. The available language options are Oriya, Tamil, Punjabi, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, and Gujrati as the main language.

Lite Weight & Low Bandwidth Dependency

Kite web is one of the most low-weight browser-based trading platforms available at present. You won’t need a high internet bandwidth to work it perfectly. 

It requires as low as 0.5 kbps of internet bandwidth to perform perfectly. This is the reason why this platform is extremely popular among the third and fourth-tier cities where internet bandwidth may not be sufficient.

Precise Search Results

The trading app comes with the ability to give you precise search results across millions of scrips, contracts, and financial offerings across various indices and trading categories through its in-house single exhaustive ‘Search’ facility.

It is meant to help the traders who are always on the search for more insightful details before placing their orders.

Live Charts

The app features different types of live charts known as ‘Zerodha Kite Charts.’ This high-tech service allows the users to obtain six different types of charts like Linebreak, Renko Chart, Range Bars, Helkin-Ashi Charts, Point and Figure Charts, and Kagi Charts.

In addition, there are more than 20 different drawing tools and over a hundred distinctive technical signals.

Minimalistic User Interface

Zerodha Kite Web has been known to have a minimalistic user interface, therefore allowing the users to embrace simple navigation, easy understanding, and enhanced usability.

Push Notification

The app sends push notifications to its clients related to worthy news, updates in regard to your Demat or Trading Account, and even the minutest movement within the trading segments.

Data Point Analysis

The app features an extended variety of data points, thus enabling the users to perform various fundamental or complex technical analyses before putting in their respective orders.

Various Segments

This feature allows users to put unique orders by enabling many trade product choices such as Margin Intraday Square Off or MIS, Normal F&O or NRML, and Cash n Carry or CNC.

Single Click Order

The app has been designed in such a way that it allows users to put orders feasibly with only a single click across various order types.

This feature is of immense help to the traders who deal particularly in Intraday Trades, where the likelihood of profits transforming into losses in just a lapse of a second is, extremely high.

Critical Analysis

The web-based app enables the traders to perform extensive and insightful analyses with the help of the already combined tool Quant.

The app can further combine tools such as Zerodha Smallcase, Zerodha Streak, and Zerodha Sentinal for further analytical enhancements.

Watchlist

This feature enables the users to include up to five different market watch lists, each with a maximum limit of forty scrips.

Short-cut Key Feature

The app has several shortcut key functionalities that can get access to features that may else require important navigation know-how.

It also enables the users to customize the shortcut keys given their specific requirements and ease.

Zerodha Kite Mobile Trading App

The next is the mobile-based trading platform of Zerodha – Zerodha Kite, which is available for both Android and iOS platforms. The mobile-based trading platform has a lot of features that make it a go-to trading platform for users who are always on the go. Its major features are:

In-Built Search

The trading app provides precise search results via various contracts, scripts, contracts, and financial products across multiple indices and trading segments.

Interactive Charts

The Zerodha Kite apps also feature various live charts that come with different display options.

This particular feature enables traders and investors to access six different types of charts, including the Linebreak, Range Bars, Renko Chart, Point and Figure Charts, Kagi Charts, and Helkin-Ashi Charts.

Besides giving access to various types of chars, Zerodha Kite apps also offer the respective users exclusive access to over a hundred types of technical indicators.

Historical Information

The apps have been designed to give access to free historical chart data of several years, thereby providing the respective users with a better understanding of the market and helping them make sound financial decisions.

Seamless User Experience

Both the apps have been designed to provide an easy and seamless user experience to their clients by avoiding cluttered systems and featuring a clean and intuitive user interface.

Push Notification

The apps have been developed to push notifications to the respective user’s (trader’s and investor’s) home screen regarding all the updates regarding his or her Demat or Trading Account.

The only issue with Zerodha is that it doesn’t have any physical branches since it is a pure online discount broker in India. However, the stockbroker doesn’t leave a single stone unturned to provide exemplary customer support services such as Email Support, Call Support, and Chat Support.

Zerodha Complaints

From the above table, it is clear that Zerodha has an impressive track record of providing satisfactory resolution to its customers’ complaints.

Zerodha Reviews on Advantages and Disadvantages

Though Zerodha is a pioneering player in the discount broking segment, it has several advantages and disadvantages:

Pros

• Competitive brokerage
• Excellent customer support
• Amazing trading platforms
• Best-in-class market research

Cons

• Sluggish account opening procedure
• Deals only in the Indian stock market
• No protection to investors
• Lack of physical touchpoint for clients

Conclusion on Zerodha Reviews

Over the years, Zerodha has carved out itself as an industry leader by providing best-in-class stock trading services to its clients. From its exemplary customer support to intraday tips, research and charts, and highly-advanced trading platforms, the leading discount broker has spearheaded the industry like no other. There is no doubt that the stockbroker would continue the same momentum in the coming years. 

FAQs – Zerodha Review

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