Demat Account Charges in India

Demat Account Charges

Demat account charges and cost: a comprehensive list of all charges and fees related to Demat accounts in India

Prior to 1996, trading in shares was a hassle involving tedious paperwork and stamp duty costs in addition to the 14 day settlement cycle. To eliminate these drawbacks, Demat accounts were introduced which maintained financial assets like shares, debentures, sovereign gold bonds, mutual funds etc in electronic form to facilitate quick and efficient trading at lower costs.

But there are no free lunches in the world. Often marketed as free, Demat accounts have multiple hidden charges which can greatly impact your overall investment return. Let us understand the different Demat account charges and how to smartly avoid them by opting for the best Demat account in India with Samco.

Demat account charges can be categorised as:

• Demat account opening charges
• Demat account annual maintenance charges
• Demat account transaction charges

Demat Account Custodian Fees

Before the widespread dematerialisation of shares and securities, they were stored as physical instruments. The investor was responsible for ensuring the safety of their share certificates in this traditional setup. However, with the advent of demat accounts and with shares and securities being dematerialised, the responsibility of safekeeping has shifted to the depository participant (DP). This DP acts as the custodian of the shares and securities stored in each demat account.

To ensure that these dematerialised instruments are safe, DPs may levy custodian fees in addition to demat account maintenance charges. These fees are typically levied as demat account yearly charges. However, in some cases, they may be payable monthly. Some demat account providers may also waive these charges.

Whether payable as monthly or annual charges of demat account, custodian fees are usually quite nominal. The amount payable depends on the total value of the shares and securities held in a demat account.

Lowest Demat Account Charges in India at Samco.

Demat Account Opening Charges: Rs. 0 – completely free

These charges are levied at the time of opening the Demat account and cover the operational costs. While most Demat brokers charge between Rs. 200-400 for account opening, opening a trading and Demat account at Samco is completely free.

[Suggested Reading:18 Reasons Why Samco is the Best Demat Account in India ]

Demat account opening charges comparison table

Charges	Competitors	Samco (Free)	Savings
Demat account opening charges	Rs.400/-	Free (Rs 0) and Online	Rs.400

Demat Annual Maintenance Charges – free for 1st year, Rs. 400 from second year onwards

These are charges that are charged for the maintenance of the Demat account. Every year depository participants incur a certain operational and compliance cost for maintaining Demat accounts. These costs are recovered from customers by charging annual maintenance charges. Also known as folio maintenance charge, brokers and banks typically charge between Rs 300 - 900 annually. While the charges are levied annually, many brokers also charge quarterly fees.

At Samco, our customers have the option to pay a one-time lifetime maintenance fee instead of an annual maintenance fee. In case you’d like to opt for this option, please raise a ticket with our customer service department at www.samco.in/support

Demat account annual maintenance charges comparison table

Charges	Competitors	Samco (Free)	Savings
AMC for 1st Year	900	0	900
AMC 2nd year onwards	900	400	500

Demat transaction charges – depending on type of transaction

Differential transaction charges are charged for different types of transactions like on-market transfers, pledge transactions, un-pledge transactions, etc.

On Market Debit Transfers

From an investor point of view the most important charges for comparison are charges for on-market transfers. This is because these are charges incurred for transferring stocks from Demat account to the exchange in case of Sale transactions.

Samco is the best Demat account in India as it charges Rs. 15 + GST, the lowest in the country, per transaction for on market debit from Demat account.

On market debit transaction charges comparison

Charges	Competitors	Samco (Free)	Savings
On Market Debit	Rs. 25 - Fixed fee with a minimum 0.05% of value	Flat Rs. 15 + GST	Rs. 10

When you open an investment account with Samco, a unified account gets opened i.e. - a Demat account, online trading account and mutual funds investing account.