Where the money goes
The charge has two layers: the depository (CDSL or NSDL) levies a small fee, and the broker adds its own service fee on top. Zerodha publishes ₹15.34 per scrip including GST. Groww splits its ₹20 into a ₹3.5 depository fee and a ₹16.5 Groww fee. The split differs, the existence of the charge does not.
When you will see it
Only when you sell shares from your demat account, and only once per scrip per day. Sell shares of three different companies in one day and the charge appears three times. Sell the same company five times in one day and it appears once. Intraday and F&O trades never hit the demat, so they carry no DP charge.
Why it exists
Before dematerialisation, moving paper certificates meant couriers, stamp duty and registrar checks. The depository system replaced that with an electronic debit instruction, and the fee pays for running the system that makes selling instant. It is set and revised by the depositories, not invented by brokers.
Where it appears on your contract note
On a delivery sell, the contract note carries a line called DP charges (or depository participant charges) with the scrip name and the amount. The ledger in the broker app shows the same entry, dated the day the debit settled. If you sell three different companies in one day, three entries appear. Sell the same company five times in one day and only one entry appears, because the charge is per scrip per day, not per order. The monthly consolidated account statement (CAS) from the depository also records the debit, so the charge is traceable from two independent documents.
A worked example across brokers
You sell 50 shares of TCS on three different platforms, hypothetically. At Upstox the debit is ₹20 + 18% GST, ₹23.60. At Zerodha it is ₹15.34 per scrip including GST. At Groww it is ₹3.50 to the depository plus ₹16.50 to Groww, ₹20 before GST, and a woman as first holder pays a depository rate of ₹3.25 instead of ₹3.50. The charge exists at every broker because the depository debit exists; only the split and the total differ. These figures were read from each broker’s pricing page on 16 August 2026.
A concrete example
You sell 50 shares of TCS worth ₹2,00,000. On top of brokerage and statutory charges, the contract note shows one DP charge of ₹20 + GST (₹23.60) for that scrip that day. Buy TCS back the next day and hold it: no DP charge on the buy.
The numbers to remember
₹20 + GST
Upstox DP charge per scrip per day on sell
₹15.34
Zerodha DP charge per scrip, GST included
₹3.5 + ₹16.5
Groww split: depository fee plus Groww fee
Questions people ask about DP charges
No. The charge applies only when shares leave your demat account, which is the sell side. Buying credits shares to the account and carries no DP charge. Intraday and F&O trades never touch the demat, so they never carry it either.
Because it is two fees stacked: the depository (CDSL or NSDL) sets its own debit fee, and the broker adds a service fee on top. Zerodha publishes ₹15.34 per scrip including GST, Groww splits ₹20 into ₹3.5 depository plus ₹16.5 Groww, and Upstox charges ₹20 + GST. The same share, sold through different brokers, carries different DP charges.
No. A cancelled order never becomes a trade, so nothing leaves the demat account and no DP charge applies. The charge follows the debit, not the order. A completed sell, by contrast, always carries the debit, even if you regret it a minute later.
Folio-based mutual fund units redeemed through the AMC carry no DP charge because they never sit in the demat account. Demat-held units (ETFs, or funds bought on the exchange) sold on the exchange do carry the demat debit and its DP charge.
Sources
Figures on this page were read on 16 August 2026. Broker fees change; confirm current rates on the official page before acting.
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