Online share trading account – Which is best?

POSTED BY Sunnydoc ON November 23, 2011 5:44 pm COMMENTS (46)

Hi,

I am interested in opening an online share trading account so that I can purchase a few blue chip shares to hold for long term.

Can anyone suggest me which platform is good? The pros and cons of these platforms and the brokerage charges if possible. If I open an online share account will a Demat account be automatically opened or is that a separate thing altogether?

I am looking at Motilal Oswal and Sharekhan. Are there better alternatives. Please share your valuable inputs.

Manish, an article on direct equity investing, its pros and cons, platforms, etc etc would be nice. We always invest in mutual funds, I feel holding a few blue chip shares for long term is equally important.

Thank you.

Sunnydoc

46 replies on this article “Online share trading account – Which is best?”

  1. nehavarma says:

    The digitalization has brought in many players providing the services of online trading which are simple, but the important part is understanding the customer and get the services defined which ease life of the customer. Players like trade bulls have managed to understand the actual customer requirement and have designed their services accordingly. They have even gone a step ahead and also started giving financial advices to the customers which help and acts as an guideline for the customers to get the investments done in the right direction.

    1. Thanks for your comment Neha

  2. Himansu says:

    Hi
    . How much secure for opening a dmat and trading account in fundsindia.

  3. Sumit says:

    @rohit,

    do not worry, if its happens, but thanks this time, at the last point of making done, with same person who cheated you, i was going, to open account, and refused to that person, for open up an account.

    Thanks again

  4. rohit says:

    I opened up a trading account with Sharekhan Limited one year back in 2014. My account was opened with sector-38, Chandigarh branch. Initially their representative Manohar mobile no.(9872882154) committed me that this account is opened up free of cost and there are not going to be any annual maintenance charges for lifetime. But after one year i got a message that i need to 500 rs annual maintenance charges ( 250 rs after every 6 months). When i called up at their sector 38 branch they said yes you need to pay these charges. I talked to Manohar and he simply refused that he committed me about the lifetime free charges. Then i realized that it is a trap set by the company representatives so that they can achieve their sales target. I feel cheated. Moreover, Manohar is rude to me. I don’t know how to get my problem solved as nobody wants to help me. I want to tell people that don’t deal with Sharekhan Limited as it is a fraud trading company. I am duped, cheated and harassed

    1. Hi rohit

      Company is not fraud, their sales person is . Also did you check the agreement you signed with them

      1. Rohit says:

        Hi Manish,

        Yes, I checked the terms and conditions and it is too complicated to understand. Moreover, the sales executive Manohar was pretty sure that I will not be charged anything in the coming years.

        1. Hi Rohit

          Sadly, the sales executive just lied to you .. He knows that after 1 yr you either will not call him or do anything about it . Sadly things were verbal and no amount of complaining will help . Because there is no proof that it happened ever ! . I hope you get my point

          1. Rohit says:

            Manish, why would a customer suffer due to the false commitment given by the sales executive and what about the pathetic after sales service. Sharekhan people never pick my calls and their landline numbers are always busy. I have tried calling on their different landline numbers.

            1. there are two things here Rohit

              False committment is definately a bad thing and should not happen. But in reality most of the investors also never cross check things and rely on words .You can surely complain to company on this fact, but you do not have proof of it, how can someone trust your words ? that it actually happened, what if you are just lying ?

              Also you can always go to the next level of complaining for the bad service issue , thats your right .

              I think the main problem is that most of the investors do not understand that its a buyers beware market. Trust me , you have been cheated for a very small thing and you should take it as an opportunity to position your mindset for future so that no one can fool you now . There are millions of other cases where investors have suffered in the tune of lacs of rupees because of over relying on others words .

            2. rohit says:

              Hey Manish,

              You cannot build a long lasting relation which is based on false commitments. I am an a aware investor. There is no such document stating annual charges shared with me during the start of the contract and what about the bad customer service. I am really feeling disturbed with Sharekhan Limited. As soon as my shares will go into profit, i am going to exit this company and will go for some small trading company which atleast provides honest commitment and respects its customers. I have few friends who have also opened account with Sharekhan and all of them are facing this same issues. Irregular customer service, rude behavior and let me tell you that some of these friends have account with sharekhan with huge amount. I mean how can such a company can treat its customers like this, I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND SHAREKHAN TRADING ACCOUNT TO ANYBODY. I dont want to be rude but they are just cheaters who cheated me and are cheating many others.

            3. Definitely Rohit

              Even I agree that, Surely what happened is not right. I suggest you open a new demat with some other service provider

              Manish

            4. JITENDRA says:

              I WANT TO OPEN DEMAT AND TRADING ACCOUNT ACCOUNT..WHICH ONE IS BEST FOR ME

  5. I have IndiaInfoLine. As this is finance related, suggest careful with these people changing terms without any intimation.

  6. Gurbir Singh says:

    While choosing your trading account, you need to pen down all that you need for opening your account. Then you should research brokers that rank high on honesty, transparency and provides good client support.

    We hear and read about brokers that make fake promises and skim their client’s account of its profits by charging high fees. But there are others, who are creating a noise in the indian brokerage industry by providing innovative solutions and services. Some of such names are RKSV, Trade smart, Finvasia, composite edge and more.
    Shortlist the brokers (have name a few for you). Do an independent research on them and choose one that fits your requirements.

    Tip: Don’t be swayed away by the over hyped stories about brokers, use your intelligence. Make an informed decision

    1. rohit says:

      Yes Sir, You are right.

      Here is the detailed complaint against Sharekhan Limited-

      I opened up a trading account with Sharekhan Limited one year back in 2014. My account was opened with sector-38, Chandigarh branch. Initially their representative Manohar mobile no.(9872882154) committed me that this account is opened up free of cost and there are not going to be any annual maintenance charges for lifetime. But after one year i got a message that i need to 500 rs annual maintenance charges ( 250 rs after every 6 months). When i called up at their sector 38 branch they said yes you need to pay these charges. I talked to Manohar and he simply refused that he committed me about the lifetime free charges. Then i realized that it is a trap set by the company representatives so that they can achieve their sales target. I feel cheated. Moreover, Manohar is rude to me. I don’t know how to get my problem solved as nobody wants to help me. I want to tell people that don’t deal with Sharekhan Limited as it is a fraud trading company. I am duped, cheated and harassed

  7. rennai says:

    Hi Mr.Sunny
    Now a days there are many online share trading company.. But you should look out for minimum brokerage company and there experience in share trading as this is a risky investment.
    . Lowest Brokerage ever in the Share Market:
    ‘Trade at Rs.5 per lakh trade volume’.
    Visit http://www.shareway.in

  8. Trade Guru says:

    Hi Sunnydoc,
    In no particular order, . I would suggest Finvasia, ICICIDirect and IndiaBulls.
    Indiabulls:
    Why: Indiabulls provides a fast system, only if you have their PowerIndiabulls software. They charge a one time fees for this.
    Why not: Since the company involved in the demat scam, though cleared, i’m still apprehensive about trading with them. Sometimes their software hangs, but I guess that happens with almost every online trading system. When compared to Finvasia and ICICI their fund transfer are slow.
    For details visit their website:www.indiabulls.com/

    Finvasia:
    Why: Simply because they are cheapest to trade out of the three. Their brokerate rate is 99% lower than the average rate on the street. Depending on the plan you choose, they charge Rs9/lot or Rs 19/trade for both market and limit orders. They don’t charge quarterly or annual fees. Finvasia provides its clients efficient Offline & Online trading facilities. The company has a dedicated team for each account/investor along with 24 hour multilingual customer support. And, they provide their customers, Pay-in and Pay-out operations from the trading terminal to/from trading accounts.
    Moreoever, their research section provides free research reports. You can visit their research section here: http://www.finvasia.com/research
    Why not: If you choose to trade with them under their “deep discount” package, you don’t get a dedicated relationship manager. Although you can always call their research and dealing room to trade irrespective of your account type
    For details visit their website: http://www.finvasia.com
    ICICIDirect:
    Why: Being a well know name it seems psychologically safe and secure. This work more fluidly, if you have an ICICI bank account. They offer seamless money transfer.
    Why not: It’s a webpage based system, which makes it naturally slow. Their brokerage charges are extremely high.
    For details visit their website: http://www.icicidirect.com/

  9. sanam12 says:

    Recently, i visited the website http://www.compositedge.com/ and I really find it very useful for the investor as it has several options wherein you can buy unlimited shares at nearly 15 Rs. I really admire this………

  10. vinodkumaryadav says:

    By using this online trading service http://www.compositedge.com/pricing/compare-pricing.php you not even compare your pricing with other online brokers but also you can get better idea of trading……..

  11. Dear Sunnydoc, in that case you may check with other bank based brokers as discussed above like ICICI, HDFC, KOTAK, IDBI, AXIS.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  12. Sunnydoc says:

    Dear Ashal,

    Thanks for your reply. My bank does not have any demat+trading account. I will have to opt for some other option as mentioned above.

    Sunnydoc

  13. Dear Sunnydoc, You missed the point in my reply. I said if you do have an existing relationship then only go for SBI. Please check with your existing bank. is it offering any tie up demat + trading account. If yes you may opt that.

    Else you may check with other bank based brokers also. Please do not accept that Swadhan policy. In fact due to this cross selling – refuse to open your demat account.

    Regarding zerodha – I do not have any view as it’s an unknown entity to me. Join at your own risk.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  14. Sunnydoc says:

    Dear Ashal,

    I do not have an account with SBI but anyway had decided to go for SBIcapsec. I called their customer care and they first asked me to open a savings account at a branch in my city. But when I went there to open the account, they were trying to push a group insurance scheme to me called ‘SBI Swadhan’. They said that it was compulsory.

    Then I told them that I cannot be forced to purchase an insurance that I do not need, especially since I know it is not a pure term plan. Anyway, they told me to speak to their manager tomorrow and see what can be done.

    All this made me look for other options right now. I was thinking of going for Zerodha after seeing its reviews and website. It has very low brokerage charges and the annual maintenance charge is also slightly lower than SBI.

    I know that penny differences should not matter, but I was also wondering how will the service be like? Taking a look at various reviews, I see that there are lot of negative complaints against SBIcapsec.

    Could you please take a look at Zerodha and tell me your views? I intend to buy only a few shares, and then hold them long term.

    Thanks,

    Sunnydoc

  15. VIGNESH BASKARAN says:

    Hi Sunny doc,

    I have seen many charges of many of the brokers and finally came to fundsindia who is charging 30 paise for 100. Now only opened the account. I am having my mutual funds account with them only. Not yet started buying stocks.

    I hope it is useful.

    http://www.fundsindia.com

    thanks and regards
    Vignesh

  16. Sunnydoc says:

    Wow!.. Thanks Ashal! Now the next step is to study the right stocks and invest in a few. I have posted a question on the forum..

  17. Dear Sunnydoc, in case you are planning to open a demat account as well as saving account, please contact https://www.sbicapsec.com/OpenAccount.aspx

    You ‘ll get the services at your door step. A 3 in 1 account ‘ll be opened to you. A SB account, A demat account & a trading account.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  18. Sunnydoc says:

    Dear Ashal,

    Sorry for my late reply. Actually I do not have an account with any of the above banks, but was considering to open a savings account with SBI soon.

    Could you please tell me a bit about Motilal Oswal and Sharekhan online portals? I was unable to understand the concept of minimum brokerage charges and margins. Could you please explain it with some examples to make it simple?

    I wish to invest in a few blue-chip equities in a staggered approach over the next 1-2 years and then hold them for really long term (Maybe even 20 years or more). So do I open an SBI account or should I go for these broker companies. I understand that I must pay a yearly AMC and DEMAT fee in all these. I searched for the cost, but was just not able to find them. Could you please tell me that also?

    Thanks.

  19. Shiju says:

    Indiainfoline

  20. VIGNESH BASKARAN says:

    @Ashal

    thank you..

  21. Dear Vignesh, I do not have data for all the bank based brokers but in general, the total transaction charges comes out around 0.8 to 0.95%.

    If you are the buy & hold kind person the bank based brokers ‘ll do the trick.

    I’m using http://www.fundsindia.com for my MF investment only.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  22. VIGNESH BASKARAN says:

    @ ashal

    how much will they be charging?

    actually I am having all my mutual fund invesments in fundsindia so thought of opening an equity account with them.

    their charges (0.30 paise for 100)
    charge details
    https://www.fundsindia.com/content/jsp/equity/equityFAQ.do

    Is this best to get everything under one roof? I dont know how much actually evry other broker is charging.

    Things I need to see when opening an equtiy account? They are using some jargons in the form
    Pls see this link and let me know.

    regards
    Vignesh

  23. Dear Sunny, please opt the one where you already have a relationship. If it’s SBI, so be it.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  24. Sunnydoc says:

    @Marshain – Thanks, went through the website. Looks good for regular traders I guess

    @Ashal – Yes you are right. I will go for a bank based account, mostly SBI.

  25. Dear Sunny, If you want to use the demat account for buy & hold mode, any bank based account is good. Regarding your worry for AMC (most of the brokers keep it around 400 to 500 Rs. yly), I’ll only say – you are going penny wise pound foolish.

    For example – if you are going to invest some 1L or 2L or more Rs. now & going to hold your investment for next 10Y & after that period you are selling your investments say for 10L Rs. In all those 10Y the AMC charged was 500*10 = 5000 Rs. only Now do tell me what’s this %age of your profit?

    This discussion is similar to the one – which fuel car (petrol, diesel, LPG or CNG) I should opt for? Well answer depends upon your actual running of the car & not the calculations done for you by any of expert.

    I do hope the message is clear to you.

    Thanks

    Ashal

  26. marshaln says:

    flat 20rs brokerage per transaction irrespective of turnover and volume!
    and 400/- annual maintenance charges. check out zerodha website

  27. Sunnydoc says:

    @Marshain – What are the benefits of Zerodha over the other companies?

  28. Sunnydoc says:

    Thank you all for your comments and views,

    @Ashal – I will take a detailed look at the SBI bank option.

    @Upendra – A nice idea thanks, actually I am not sure whether to close the DEMAT account or not, for all the reasons explained in this thread.

    Can someone please tell me which company offers the least yearly maintenance charges, both for brokerage as well as DEMAT account? That will be the deciding factor for me because I do not intend to do regular trading, a marginally higher brokerage cost is ok for me.

    Thanks..

  29. marshaln says:

    am using icicidirect from past 5yrs now am shifting to Zerodha 🙂

  30. Lokesh Jain says:

    Hi Sunny,

    ICICI Direct is by far the best option for online brokerage as it offers the best coverage for all the investment avenues (except commodities) which in any case you do not want to invest. Equity, F&O, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Corporate FDs, Insurance, etc. So you have all your investments at one place and 1 demat account. Only problem is high brokerage but that should not be an issue as you are planning to buy and hold and probably sell only when there is good appreciation. Demat and trading account are opened simultaneously. So no need to open demat account and trading account separately.

    @ Upendra
    Remat is not a good option, you need to pay Rs. 50 for each company and in other case you just pay Rs 500 for your demat yearly. In case you lose the certificates, the cost involved in getting those back is again high.

  31. upendra gavale says:

    Dear Sunny,

    what i got from ur quiery is u wanna buy few bluechip shares and want to hold for long term. So my suggestion is, go with any broker, who will offer free DMAT account opening, buy your planned bluechip shares. And if you wanna hold it for morethan 5 years [as long term upto 10 or more years], just REMAT these shares with your brokers help. And then close the demat account if you dont wanna trade more. It will save ur yearly demat account maintaing charges. And the price of the shares you will know from anywhere like news channels and news papers. Reply your views.

    regards
    Upendra

  32. Dear Sunnydoc, Here is my take – if you do have any relationship with either of the following banks I w’d recommend to open a demat + trading account there itself.

    ICICI
    HDFC
    KOTAK
    SBI
    AXIS
    IDBI

    The list is random & not an order of ranking.

    As you said you want to purchase & hold for long term, that’s why I suggested the above bank based brokers. For frequent traders – Sharekhan, indiabulls, indiinfoline, Motilal, religare…………………. are good for the basic benefit of low brokerage.

    Thanks

    Ashal

    1. rohit says:

      NEVER OPEN YOUR ACCOUNT WITH SHAREKHAN!!! THEY ARE CHEATERS..

      I opened up a trading account with Sharekhan Limited one year back in 2014. My account was opened with sector-38, Chandigarh branch. Initially their representative Manohar mobile no.(9872882154) committed me that this account is opened up free of cost and there are not going to be any annual maintenance charges for lifetime. But after one year i got a message that i need to 500 rs annual maintenance charges ( 250 rs after every 6 months). When i called up at their sector 38 branch they said yes you need to pay these charges. I talked to Manohar and he simply refused that he committed me about the lifetime free charges. Then i realized that it is a trap set by the company representatives so that they can achieve their sales target. I feel cheated. Moreover, Manohar is rude to me. I don’t know how to get my problem solved as nobody wants to help me. I want to tell people that don’t deal with Sharekhan Limited as it is a fraud trading company. I am duped, cheated and harassed

  33. Maitri Maroo says:

    I used to have an account of Share Khan, they have many services but very expensive…

    1. vinodkumaryadav says:

      Hi Sunnydoc

      Also you can check for http://www.compositedge.com as they are now most happening online trading firm in India as they do have many options so that you can be revised before investing..

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