Check out these best demat account options for small investors

If you’re planning to invest in Indian stock market, it is necessary for you to know the importance of a demat account. Having a demat account is prerequisite to trade in stocks. It is must for a person who wants to buy and sell shares and to hold shares in electronic format.

New investors who want to begin trading should be intuitive in picking up a demat account or else he should be ready to pay a high fee and charges for each transaction. Different charges become applicable for opening and maintaining a demat account.

Some of the lucrative features that can be chosen at the time of demat account opening are low brokerage broking firm, firms offering zero account opening charges, or one with low Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC).

Customer support is one aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked while choosing a stock broker for market trading. Check out below the best demat account options that are great for new small investors:

1. Zerodha

It is known to the frontrunner in the area of discount broking. However, the company has reached to a new high utilizing result-oriented technology.

Zerodha is counted among the fastest growing, high volume contributors with an average daily trading turnover of over INR 10,000 crores. The company now offers investment options to traders and investors in equities to open demat account instantly using their Aadhaar card.

• Equity delivery transactions both on the NSE and BSE are offered free i.e zero brokerage charges.
• Intraday equity and equity futures incur a fee of 0.01% or Rs. 20/ trading transaction whichever is lower.
• For equity options flat Rs. 20 is charged per executed order.
• Demat account opening charges (one-time) is Rs 100.
• Demat account Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) are Rs 300 per year.

Moreover, there will be STT or CTT charges that differ across transactions i.e for equity delivery it is 0.1% on buy and sell, for equity intra-day it is 0.025% on the sell, 0.01% on selling in case of equity futures and 0.05% on sell for equity options trade.

In addition, GST charges @ 18% also become applicable on brokerage plus transaction charges.

2. Upstox

Earlier known as RKSV, Upstox is supported by leading global investors and considered one of the largest low-cost brokerage firms in India with thousands of customers across the country.

There are no charges for stock investment along with no brokerage. However, you should be ready to pay a brokerage of just 0.01% or upto Rs 20 per traded order (whichever is lower) for intraday, F&O, commodity and currencies irrespective of the volume.

• Demat account opening charges – Rs. 150 for NSE, BSE as well as MCX
• Demat account Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) -Rs. 150 only for demat accounts and not for trading accounts.

Apart from this, an extra charge of INR 100 is levied for processing account opening forms if they are forwarded to the firm’s mailing address. When you open a demat account with Upstox, your trading account gets automatically opened after you choose the segments you want to trade in.

3. ICICI Direct Demat Account

ICICI Direct is one of the leading financial services firms in India providing a wider range of services including stock trading.

One can choose for the 3 in 1 Demat account by ICICI. There is no need for the clients to open multiple accounts for trading and fund management separately. The primary benefit of ICICI Direct demat account for new small investors or beginners is that it takes away typical hassle over funds transfer between trading and bank accounts.

The company’s brokerage charges include everything along with the DP charges that is Rs. 25 or 0.04% (whichever is higher) when shares are sold off or deducted from the demat account. Other charges such as CDSL and NSDL as well as other statutory charges are levied disjointedly.

• Demat account opening charges- 0
• Demat account AMC- 0
• Trading account opening charges- 0
• Trading account AMC- Rs. 700

4. Motilal Oswal

Backed by an experience of over 30 years, Motilal Oswal is a leading name in the stock broking segment. In fact, the stock broker is a 4-time winner of Best Performing Equity Broker by UTI-CNBC TV18 National Financial Advisory Awards.

• Demat Account Opening Charges – 0
• Demat Account Annual Maintenance Charges – Rs. 441
• Brokerage for first month – 0
• For equity intra-day trading the brokerage charge – 0.03-0.015%
• For equity delivery trading the brokerage charge – 0.25-0.18%

5. Sharekhan

Sharekhan is one of the most well-known stock broking firms and also boasts of a global presence with its offices in UAE and Oman.

• Demat account opening charges -Included in trading account opening charges
• Trading account opening charges – Rs 750 for typical account, Rs. 1000 for Trade Tiger A/c. Keep in mind that these charges are completely adjusted against first six-months brokerage charges.
• Demat Annual Maintenance Charges- Rs 400 (free for 1st year with trading account)
• For equity intra-day trading the brokerage charge – 0.1% for both buy and sell sides.
• For equity delivery trading the brokerage charge – 0.5% or 10 paise per share or Rs 16 per scrip whichever is higher.

6. India Infoline (IIFL)

IIFL is a financial services corporation which was established by a consortium of visionary entrepreneurs in the year 1995. The origin of IIFL is defined in the power of dreaming big and believing in your dreams.

Today, IIFL Holdings Limited (Bloomberg Code: IIFL IN, NSE: IIFL, BSE: 532636) is India’s top-rated integrated financial services group with a variety of operating businesses, primarily, Non-Banking and Housing Finance, Wealth and Asset Management, Financial Advisory and Broking, Mutual Funds and Financial Product Distribution, Investment Banking, Institutional Equities, Realty Broking and Advisory Services.

• Demat Account Opening Fee ₹555
• Demat Account Annual Charges (AMC) ₹ 400 (One time)
• Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) ₹400
• Debit Charges 025% (minimum ₹25 per transaction)