A flat ₹20 per order adds up fast for active traders. Here’s the math.
The hidden tax on active trading
Brokerage feels small on a single trade — ₹20 here, a fraction of a percent there. But every position you open and close is two orders, and those flat fees compound across a month of trading into a number most investors never actually add up.
Run the numbers
Say you place 8 trades a day, 20 days a month. That is 320 orders. At a flat ₹20 per order you pay ₹6,400 a month, or roughly ₹76,800 a year — before a single rupee of statutory charges. A percentage-based full-service broker charging 0.3% on a ₹1,50,000 turnover would cost far more again.
Why delivery should be free
For long-term investors, equity delivery brokerage is the easiest cost to eliminate entirely. Brokers like Wisdom Capital charge ₹0 on delivery, which means buy-and-hold investing carries no brokerage drag at all — you only pay statutory charges that every broker must collect.
What you can actually control
You cannot avoid STT, GST, exchange and SEBI fees. You can avoid percentage brokerage by choosing a flat-fee or zero-brokerage broker, trading fewer but higher-conviction positions, and using delivery instead of intraday where it suits your strategy.
