Margin requirement for trading F&O is set to go up in 4 phases starting - 14th Sep, 2018

No there isn’t. But if you are having long options in stock option contracts which are compulsory physically settled on expiry - you would need margin from 4 days before expiry. This had to happen to ensure long option holders have enough money to give/take delivery of the entire contract. From the email we have sent to all our clients.

The margin requirement for Long/Buy option positions in compulsory physical delivery contracts

From September expiry onwards, the exchange has mandated that margins be blocked for long options (Call & Put) 4 days before expiry (i.e Friday EOD - the week prior to expiry week) on any compulsory physical delivery contracts. Currently, there are 45 stocks which are settled with the actual delivery of stocks, this list is going to increase to cover all F&O stocks in the next few months. Check this list to stay updated on stocks which are to be compulsorily settled physically.

Margins are required to ensure that clients with long options have sufficient funds to either take or give delivery of the underlying stock on expiry. The delivery margins applicable will be a percentage of the VAR + ELM margins (Check out this NSE FAQ to know more about VAR & ELM). The delivery margins will be applicable in the following manner.

Day
Margins applicable
Expiry - 4 Day (Friday EOD) 20% of VAR + ELM
Expiry - 3 Day (Monday EOD) 40% of VAR + ELM
Expiry - 2 Day (Tuesday EOD) 60% of VAR + ELM
Expiry - 1 Day (Wednesday EOD) 80% of VAR + ELM
On the expiry day, you need to maintain a margin of 50% of the contract value (or SPAN+Exposure), whichever is higher. Please maintain the required margin in your account to ensure that your positions don’t get squared off (For long puts, you need to hold the stocks in your demat along with the margins). We have explained our policy on settlement of compulsory delivery derivative contracts here in detail.

Regards,
Team Zerodha

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