Top online brokers lose 20 lakh users in 2025

Mumbai

India’s top four online trading platforms lost around 20 lakh active investors in the first half of 2025, according to new data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE). This drop happened even though the stock market stayed strong for four months in a row.

The big brokers — Groww, Zerodha, Angel One, and Upstox — faced a tough first half this year. In June alone, they lost about 6 lakh active users combined. A major reason for this decline is the stricter rules set by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) for trading in the Future and Options (F&O) segment. These rules have made many investors less interested in derivatives trading.

Groww, India’s biggest broker by active investors, lost about 6 lakh users. Zerodha, the top broker by revenue, lost over 5.4 lakh investors. Angel One saw a drop of more than 4.5 lakh, and Upstox lost over 3 lakh active investors during this period.

In 2024, these platforms together added nearly one crore new active investors as F&O trading reached record levels. But this year, they have struggled to keep up their growth.

The growth of demat accounts also slowed down. Only 6.91 million new demat accounts were added in the first quarter of this fiscal year, compared to 6.93 million in the previous quarter. By the end of June, there were 199.14 million demat accounts, up from 196.62 million in May.

Investor confidence has been affected by uncertain corporate earnings and caution in the market due to tariff agreement concerns. As a result, many investors are choosing to stay on the sidelines, leading to fewer active traders on these popular online platforms.