The word brokerage covers only one part of trading cost. A proper comparison also reviews account-opening fees, annual maintenance, depository charges, exchange charges, taxes, margin funding, payment routes and service-specific fees. The figures on this page should always be checked against Dhan's live pricing page because tariffs and statutory charges can change.
Separate account costs from trade costs
Account-opening and annual maintenance charges relate to creating and maintaining the relationship. Brokerage is linked to executed orders, while statutory and exchange charges arise from the market transaction. Depository participant charges can apply when securities move out of a Demat account.
Comparisons become misleading when one zero-cost headline is treated as the complete tariff. Read the product row, order conditions, taxes and notes together.
Dhan's published account-opening and AMC position
Dhan currently publishes zero account-opening charges and zero AMC for eligible individual and HUF accounts. Other account types can have a different tariff, and the official pricing page should be reviewed for the applicant's exact category.
A zero account-opening charge does not remove statutory costs, product charges or future changes. Save or revisit the current tariff before the first transaction.
Delivery, intraday and derivative brokerage
Dhan currently presents zero brokerage for eligible equity delivery, ETFs, IPOs and mutual funds. It publishes a per-executed-order structure for equity intraday, MTF and futures and options. The exact rate, cap and segment notes should be read directly on the official pricing page.
Executed-order pricing means that strategy design can affect cost. Multiple entries, exits, partial fills and frequent adjustments can create more charge events than a single-order example suggests.
- Check whether the trade is delivery, intraday, MTF, futures or options
- Count likely executed orders, not only trading ideas
- Include entry, exit and adjustment activity
- Review minimum, percentage and capped-charge wording
Statutory, exchange and DP charges
STT, GST, exchange transaction charges, stamp duty and regulatory levies are separate from the broker's headline brokerage. Rates can differ by product and transaction side.
DP charges are especially relevant to delivery investors because a sale from Demat holdings can create a depository instruction charge. Review the current per-instruction and per-ISIN language before estimating portfolio turnover cost.
Margin, auto square-off and assisted-order costs
Margin Trading Facility and outstanding debit can involve interest. Auto square-off, call-and-trade, pledge activity and certain value-added services can also have charges or conditions.
A lower brokerage number cannot compensate for using a leveraged product without understanding interest, margin maintenance and liquidation risk. Financing cost and market risk should be assessed together.
Build a realistic trading-cost estimate
Estimate cost for the actual strategy: segment, average order value, number of executed orders, holding period, expected adjustments and settlement behaviour. Compare this with the planned gross reward rather than treating charges as an afterthought.
Use the latest official tariff and contract note for verification. If a charge differs from the expectation, contact Dhan through its official support channel before repeating the strategy.
- Use current official pricing, not an old promotional screenshot
- Include all expected executed orders
- Add statutory and depository costs
- Review financing and square-off conditions
- Verify the final result through the contract note