In an X post, Kamath said, “It’s been around 10 years since we waived off brokerage for equity delivery….Over the 10 years of being free, our clients have saved between Rs 2,000 and Rs 20,000 crores as equity delivery brokerage.”
He mentioned that they remained committed to the zero-brokerage offering despite facing challenges. “Even though there is extreme pressure to change the stance, given option trading volumes are down significantly, we’ve stuck with this so far,” he said.
Kamath admitted in the blog that many people, including himself at times, wondered if this would just be a short-term experiment or if they could continue like this indefinitely.
Until December 2015, the company charged either 0.1% or Rs 20, whichever was lower.
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In the blog, Kamath calculated the brokerage savings for their customers over the last nine years, compared to what they would have paid if Zerodha had charged its normal rates or the standard market rates of 0.1% or 0.3% without a cap. The savings came within a range of Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.
Kamath further elaborated on why the amount investors pay in brokerage matters, explaining that costs are one of the biggest factors affecting overall returns. He pointed out that many traders overlook these costs, assuming small percentages like 0.5% won’t make a big difference. However, for those trading frequently, these costs can quickly add up and become a major obstacle to making a profit.
In the blog, Kamath also cleared a misconception about the meaning of the company name Zerodha.
“By the way, Zerodha = Zero + Rodha (barriers in Sanskrit) and not Zero + brokerage that many think. Like I said earlier, we were Zerodha for 5 years before we went Zero on delivery brokerage,” he said.
