The Best Discount Brokers in India

Discount Brokers is the new breed of brokers in the industry known for low brokerage charges, technology and superior customer services. This article focuses on what is a discount broker, features and qualities of the best discount stock brokers, when to choose discount brokers and the list of the best Discount Brokers in India.

Discount Brokers

As the name suggests, Discount Brokers are the type of brokers who provide a trading facility at a very discounted price. The reason is that, they do not offer tips, recommendations, research, and advisory services. Thus giving benefits to the clients of this cost-cutting. Discount brokers could be a better choice for the fee-conscious investor who prefers to go it alone. Discount Brokers led their operation from one centralized location and usually do not have branches and offices in every city of India.

Their brokerage is fixed say Rs 20 or Rs 15 or Rs 10 per trade irrespective of the volume. Some discount brokers also offer flat monthly or yearly plans for unlimited trade in a particular segment. For example, the discount brokerage firm called 5Paisa charges Rs 10 per order for trade in any segment irrespective of the volume of trade. So you trade for Rs 10,000 or 10 lakh, the brokerage will be Rs 10 only.

Discount brokers come in all shapes and sizes. Most of them provide investing in currency, commodity, mutual funds, and IPOs and offer education about the stock market by posting articles and modules on their sites. Discount brokers mostly focus on providing educating the investor rather than providing tips and recommendations. They offer advanced trading tools and platforms with advanced charts, indicators market watch, single sign on and other features to their clients for smart and hassle free trading. Examples of popular discount brokers are Zerodha, Upstox, SAS Online, SAMCO, 5paisa, Fyers, ProStocks.

Features and services offered by Discount Brokers:

The services and features of discount brokers may vary from broker to broker depending upon up to what extent the broker is technology advance and client focused.

• Trading in equity, derivatives, currency, and commodity at very low flat brokerage charges.
• Specialize in a few investment options like mutual funds, Bonds, ETF, Buyback, IPOs, etc.
• Offer fixed price brokerage per trade or monthly flat rate pricing.
• Online trading platforms, advanced tools and use of latest technology.
• Some discount brokers offer free research reports through the third party like Zerodha offer stock market research and analysis from Thomson Reuters.
• Other powerful tools like span calculator, algo trade, thematic investment, robo advisory, etc. for successful trade and investment.
• Depository and NRI Services.

When to choose a Discount Broker?

If your trading needs match with these points below, then you should choose a Discount Brokerage Firm for yourself:

• If you are a “Do it on your own” type of trader or investor who does not need advisory and research services.
• If you are a frequent trader and trading cost matters to you a lot.
• If you are tech savvy and know how to trade online without much intervention from the broker.
• If you prefer not to visit the branch office of the broker and assistance from a relationship manager.

How do Discount Broking Companies afford to be so cheap in brokerage?

The Discount Broking firms afford to offer so low brokerage by reducing their overhead costs. They believe in working from one centralized location and do not have branches and sub-brokers in every city. Thus save on infrastructure cost. Also, they do not spend much on the advertisement. They don’t have a team dedicated to providing research, tips, and recommendation. Thus save on hiring RM and much employees for research work. They also offer few investment options, thus saving money on licensing and security money.

These are also the Top 10 largest and most popular discount Brokerage firms in India.