Interactive Brokers (India)

CougarTrader

Well-Known Member
#1
I am not affiliated to any-body or any-one. Common Indian, love participating in the markets! I remain busy for 16-18 hrs everyday, there might be delay in my reply. But I'll try to reply as and when possible.

Before anything else, if you do not have >= 5L margin and/or do not have a plan to execute your trades, DO NOT ENTER THE MARKETS! Might sound rude, but that's for your own good... Supermen/Superwomen die first in the markets... Be practical and anticipate practical gains!

IBKR is a no nonsense broker. If you are damn serious on your trading, you must consider them because as a fellow trader I think you deserve all that they offer! At current pricing, what IBKR India is offering is a steal - be it their TWS platform or their free super-stable API.

Cons (feel free to post more in comments):
1) Unlike other brokers, probably there will be no hand-holding (but all required information is readily available online if searched properly)
2) Reaching customer service is tough, you need to plan your administrative stuffs beforehand (email or raising tickets works the best)
3) Call & trade costs Rs.2000/- per trade (don't worry their platforms are super-sleek, your orders won't get stuck. For me, that need never arose)
4) Charges max Rs.200/- per month if that amount of commission is not generated (first 3 months free, otherwise waived if account worth >= 10L)
5) No intraday leverage (IMHO it is a good thing in the long run)
6) On F&O positions, margin required is 5% to 10% greater than Exchange (again that is a good thing IMO, as they don't want you to loose it all, since markets are uncertain for any wild move - read Mark Douglas if in doubt)
7) Trades only in NSE
8) Might require learning curve of at least 30-90 days, if complete novice that might further linger depending on grasping ability. Need to learn their TWS platform which has tons of features along with all sorts of custom flexibility options (you will be challenged to break-out of your comfort zone; but once you do, you shall have beauty to behold)

Pros (to avoid TLDR; keeping it short):
1) Flawlessly trade directly from TWS charts
2) Top-notch data security
3) Order Execution is fastest, incomparable to any other Indian broker, also order modifications happen instantly. IBKR's main OMS server is co-located inside NSE's server in Mumbai. NSE has servers in all Tier-1 cities; the delay happens with other brokers because your orders generally goes through several abstraction layers, increasing latency.
4) Flexibility to tune into market with their plethora of unique, innovative Order-types. You get GTC (not GTT) by default.
5) Very stable trading platform and no track-record of bullshit happening. Whatever has been the market condition, neither TWS Classic nor Mosaic has faltered for once. Just make sure to have a good internet connection from your end for "peace of mind" trading
6) Use their free NSE Market-Data API subscription and connect to Licensed Amibroker (that comes with IBKR plugins) for any sort of custom live-charts. You can also directly trade from AB too and do lot many cool stuffs if you know AFL
7) Free paper-trading account (though few limitations apply), very helpful to understand how their platform functions

Enjoy!

Few links worth mentioning:
Commissions
Required Minimums
Information for Indian Individuals

P.S. And seriously should you wish to trade on a New Year's eve or on 1st January, go see a psychiatrist! Plan your trades, don't let your trades plan you.
 
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iTrade

Well-Known Member
#2
Great. Not sure if you have answers to following questions. It’s difficult to find the info on their site

1. Intraday margin is still 2x? Do you have any link for their site? I checked the margin page and it says 100%
2. Amibrokee data feed is free for intraday?
3. Any idea if they offer margin against shares?

Thanks
 

CougarTrader

Well-Known Member
#3
1. Intraday margin is still 2x? Do you have any link for their site? I checked the margin page and it says 100%
Who said 2x? 100% margin required, no leverage!

Margin @ Interactive Brokers India Pvt. Ltd.
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2. Amibrokee data feed is free for intraday?
Yes subscription to NSE data api is Free. But use Paid Licensed Latest Amibroker to avail their latest IBKR plugin. Few Indian Indices does not tick in older AB versions. Pay attention to AmiBroker Knowledge Base » How to find correct symbol for Interactive Brokers data to avoid any unwanted frustration.

3. Any idea if they offer margin against shares?
No not yet, going to introduce soon
 
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iTrade

Well-Known Member
#5
Who said 2x? 100% margin required, no leverage!

Margin @ Interactive Brokers India Pvt. Ltd.
View attachment 46868


Yes subscription to NSE data api is Free. But use Paid Licensed Latest Amibroker to avail their latest IBKR plugin. Few Indian Indices does not tick in older AB versions. Pay attention to AmiBroker Knowledge Base » How to find correct symbol for Interactive Brokers data to avoid any unwanted frustration.


No not yet, going to introduce soon
It was 2x for specific list of shares when i had my account with them 5 yrs back. But the brokerage was high that time. So i closed the account.
Thanks for the info
 
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TracerBullet

Well-Known Member
#6
Yeah IB is pretty good, probably has best stable platform + free feature rich api. Wish i could trade with them today, but likely will in future.
But having said that IB can also have issues. Last year or so they had atleast 2 outages in morning that lasted for few hours. It happens ..

Just some comments.

4) Charges max Rs.200/- per month if that amount of commission is not generated (first 3 months free, otherwise waived if account worth >= 10L)
Not any more. No min brokerage charges, they waived it off few months back.

5) No intraday leverage (IMHO it is a good thing in the long run)
Yeah, biggest problem with IB and why they are not tradeable for me right now. They used to give 4x i think before i opened account with them but stopped it too.
Also quarterly settlement money takes too long to reach bank. Again issue for intraday.
But would be good option to trade longer term charts.

2) 99% of all Indian brokers charges GST on Brokerage + Exchange Transaction Charge. IBKR charges 18% GST only on their Brokerage of Rs.20/- per order (not per trade) = Rs.3.60/-. There is no law but ethically, brokers must not charge GST on Exchange's Trans. Fee, but they do so escaping everyday to pocket extra on each & every trade
I have not looked at this. But anyway from IB
https://www.interactivebrokers.co.in/en/index.php?f=1363
"GST will be charged on brokerage amount and exchange transaction charges at prevailing rate (18% currently)."

7) Use their free NSE Market-Data API subscription and connect to Licensed Amibroker (that comes with IBKR plugins) for any sort of custom live-charts. You can also directly trade from AB too and do lot many cool stuffs if you know AFL
AB for those who want it.
But api is free and anyone can work with it. Works great with my python tools.

8) Free paper-trading account (though few limitations apply), very helpful to understand how their platform functions
Yeah very nice.

P.S. And seriously should you wish to trade on a New Year's eve or on 1st January, go see a psychiatrist! Plan your trades, don't let your trades plan you.
hahaha, whatever ..
 

CougarTrader

Well-Known Member
#8
4) Charges max Rs.200/- per month if that amount of commission is not generated (first 3 months free, otherwise waived if account worth >= 10L)
Not any more. No min brokerage charges, they waived it off few months back.
I was not aware on complete waiver. Actually, this clause never bothered but some are very finicky.

Also quarterly settlement money takes too long to reach bank.
Quarterly settlement date is notified two weeks prior and is only applicable on funds over 2.25 times of margin required for open positions. If planned properly, i.e. on settlement date or a day prior NEFT the same amount to your IBKR account which they would sending back resolves the margin crunch.

2) 99% of all Indian brokers charges GST on Brokerage + Exchange Transaction Charge. IBKR charges 18% GST only on their Brokerage of Rs.20/- per order (not per trade) = Rs.3.60/-. There is no law but ethically, brokers must not charge GST on Exchange's Trans. Fee, but they do so escaping everyday to pocket extra on each & every trade
I have not looked at this. But anyway from IB
https://www.interactivebrokers.co.in/en/index.php?f=1363
"GST will be charged on brokerage amount and exchange transaction charges at prevailing rate (18% currently)."
Yes you are correct, they do charge 18% GST on Exchange Transaction fee as well - I take that back. But in US Market they do not, as their law does not permit to tax on an already taxed security transaction....
 

CougarTrader

Well-Known Member
#9
Applied for account opening on 28th sept. funded a/c but still waiting for approval of application as on 17/10/2021.
That means some document(s) is/are still pending from your end. Write to [email protected] for assistance.

For others who are interested, while opening an account after applying online immediately ask for e-signature, upload all required documents. Post which print & send POA through speed-post or any courier. It will get opened within 4-5 business days once they receive it.

If you do not want to send POA, you can apply for Margin Account, then no Demat will be opened but you will be restricted to cash-settled derivatives only. For a Demat account POA is a must.
 

CougarTrader

Well-Known Member
#10
Some more useful information which you won't see on their website,

Derivative products on NSE have two types of Settlement methods - Cash settlement for index derivatives and Physical settlement for stock derivatives.

In case you are holding derivative positions which are Physically settled on expiry, the outcomes of such contracts would be long or short position delivery in case the existing derivative position is not closed on expiry day before 15:30 IST.

If you hold Long futures, Long ITM Call and Short ITM Put option position then long stock will be assigned.
Due to physical delivery, in case there is a long position assigned, you would need to have the required margins to hold the long position which has been assigned.
In case your account does not have sufficient available funds, there will be liquidations in the account to get the account back to be margin compliant.

If you hold Short futures, Short ITM Call, Long ITM Put option position then short stock will be assigned.
Due to the physical delivery, in case there is a short position assigned and in the event you do not hold sufficient long quantity in your account, the short position goes to Auction. Buying the stock on the next day will not offset the short position which has been assigned due to the physical delivery. Once the position has been settled through the Auction the short position will be closed.

You can look for Archived circular section on NSE's website for past few years for information related to Physical delivery.

Then immediately next question rises, if I hold stock derivatives position till expiry,
(1) when long - from how many days prior to the expiry the additional margin obligation applies before liquidation starts and at what margin rate (if any)?
Ans) The margin requirement for the expiring derivatives position will start increasing by 20 % everyday starting from T-4 day.

(2) when short - from how many days prior to the expiry do I need to procure the required stock holdings?
Ans) On expiry day, you need to have long stock position in your account to offset the short stock assignment.
 

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