Alternatives to Zerodha for Frequent F&O Trading

If you have a position of say 6 lots in futures, and the underlying stock tanks by say 4%, and the order gets sent without you doing anything, the loss can be in several lakhs.

But let’s focus on the topic - looking for feedback on alternative brokers who at least offer an intermediate screen/prompt which shows the trade values filled, and only then send the order to the exchange

Why are you comparing split sec error with 10 days trade?

@Ragavendran_V - that’s the problem. I did not do anything.

The order was sent off automatically at both the occasions.

Had surplus money exceeding a few lakhs so no case of margin requirements, was ready to hold the position till expiry, and was holding it for last fortnight - there is no reason for me to quit that position. It just got executed on its own!

ohh! So you are saying without even placing any order ,your order got placed? Have you checked any open GTT or you are using any API .Maybe change your password or use TOTP if your account is comprised. without API or your own trigger of order or GTT i don’t think any random order can be placed by itself

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No @AlgoEye
Nothing of that sort like account compromised or GTT.

And that’s what hurts. Suffering a big loss without any order being sent by me.

At the first time, I gave them benefit of doubt and even suggested a solution which was junked. But second time, its difficult to digest.
Helpdesk is worse than automated bots - keep copy-pasting random replies on unrelated topics like stoploss and margin. They are yet to tell if it was a MARKET order (which I assume) or if it was a LIMIT order, and more importantly how it was sent when I did not…absolutely no info other than “order was executed for this price for this quantity”. There is no escalation matrix either.

These are the things that matter the most when you run into troubles. That’s why I said, one split second system error can take away all the benefits.
I only wish no one goes thru this pain.

Slippages is a part of trading. You cannot always get the exact fill you want. But you have 2 decades of experience, so you already know all this.

And why should a single trade wipe everything? Even if it goes wrong. But hey, I am not into split second trades, so I may be wrong as per your perspective.

Kite pick the settings as we leave. Thats what I know.

You are always free to try other alternatives. I tried fyers, Aliceblue. The only thing is that they don’t have instant withdrawal feature. For people who wants money back to bank sat n Sundays.

Thanks @Celina for your inputs on fyers and Aliceblue. Will explore!

This is not a case of slippages - its a case of automatic error trade on its own. Happened twice, and if not checked it will continue hitting.

By wipe everything: Even if I keep 18L trading capital for margin cover, a futures position of quantity 6000 and price change of Rs. 50 translates to 3L Rs. loss. Significant for me!
But more importantly, system error can recur, and can hit anyone.

Any feedback on ICICIDirect, AxisDirect or HDFCSecurities please?

These can not be alternative for Zerodha, as these are full service brokers, not discount ones.

Fyers - same brokerage as zerodha
30 day challenge with brokerage refund upto 10k.
Web + desktop platform+ free api

Aliceblue- rs15 brokerage.
Web+ desktop platform.

If Zerodha is a discounted broker, than they are too, if that’s the word.

Not into promoting any broker. Anyone can google and find out.

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It doesnt matter whether they are full service of discounted. Also OK to pay an increased brokerage costs.

I need a reliable and trustworthy broker, who has a confirmation screen before order sending, and whose customer support at least knows how to respond to customer complaints with some sensible sentences instead of putting copy-paste definitions of irrelevant topics like “stop-loss order” and “margin requirements” .

At least, they should not ditch you with absurd responses when you need them the most!

Feedback on ICICIDirect, AxisDirect and HDFCSecurities will be welcome!

Did some compare among the suggested alternatives over the weekend.
All are relatively cheaper than Zerodha as per their cost and brokerage calculators (attached comparative image), and provide higher net profits than Zerodha.

Fyers is cheapest, then AliceBlue, then Zerodha. And functionality is similar across all.
Essentially, even within the discount brokers, Zerodha is relatively costlier!

Will update about others soon.

How ‘good’ these brokers are can be deduced from the following facts:
1.) Neither Alice Blue and nor Fyers have added Stamp Duty in their Brokerage Calculator.
2.) While Fyers didn’t even updated its calculator with latest SEBI charges which are Rs.10 per crore.( The contract value in above case is 52 lakh so SEBI charges turns out to be Rs.5.24 as shown correctly in Zerodha while Fyers has shown only Rs.2.62 which was only valid till 31st March 2021 only as it was Rs.5 per crore till then).
3.) And clearly you haven’t even tried to add the charges in Alice Blue (Which turns out to be the highest at Rs.530 among the three after adding Rs.52 as well for Stamp Duty.
*They are charging huge Clearing charges and for some unknown reason their SEBI charges are also more than others.)

  • No transparency at all.

Wondering if you are saying system placed order on it’s own without you punching it?

Not sure what to reply to your question @siva.

The details are already there in messages posted above. But to answer your question once again - I did not punch anything and did not place any orders. All I got was the standard prompt message that “Your order of XYZ futures has been completed” and the positions page got updated to “grey” with the realized loss.
Has happened twice - once on 9th Apr (when I raised the earlier thread), and then recently on 30June (this thread+customer ticket), and obviously may occur again.

First, your customer support is horrible, and now you too seem to be taking the same usual route of the past problems/issues reported on this forum which typically goes as: Question-> deny → defend - > take as feedback/suggestion → delist.
Let’s see if this too meets the same fate instead of being properly addressed.

That’s what forces a customer to escalate, including to the competent authorities and regulators.

First you need to get in touch with the customer support team and report the matter. If no action is taken, follow the escalation matrix and get the issue resolved. Ultimately, you can change the broker.

I’m trying to reach the customer support team for an enquiry since 4 days…

We have to hold the call for 15 min later the call gets disconnected.

Can you give me ticket number?

You can create ticket for any issue.

Did you ever “get in touch with the customer support team”?
Do you know the escalation matrix (if at all something like that ever exist)? If so, kindly post it here for the benefit of everyone.

BTW, due to lack of it, I had to raise the matter to the competent regulatory authority.