Share Market6 min read
When you buy and sell shares in India, brokerage is only part of the cost. Several charges stack up — and the "zero-brokerage" headline hides a few of them.
Brokerage
What the broker charges per trade. Discount brokers charge a flat fee (often ₹20) or ₹0 on delivery; full-service brokers charge a percentage, which is far higher on large orders.
The charges every broker levies
- STT (Securities Transaction Tax)
- Exchange transaction charges
- SEBI turnover fee
- Stamp duty
- GST on brokerage and charges
- DP charge on every delivery sell (~₹13–24 per scrip)
These statutory charges are identical across brokers — only the brokerage and the DP charge differ. So those two are what to actually compare.
A "₹0 delivery" broker still charges the DP fee on every sell. For small portfolios, that flat per-scrip fee can be a meaningful share of the trade.
Where to go next
Ready to run your own numbers?
Open the calculators