Archive · 22 Aug 2026
SEBI Finds Retail Derivatives Costs Rising Despite Fewer Traders
SEBI studied the costs people pay when trading equity derivatives.
These costs include brokerage, taxes, exchange fees, GST and other charges.
Fewer individual traders were active in FY26 than before.
However, the traders who remained active paid more per trader.
Taxes on these trades became a bigger part of the total cost.
People who lost money were affected more heavily by trading costs than people who made money.
About 4.4 lakh traders made a profit before costs but ended up losing money after costs.
Overall, 87.7% of individual traders lost money in FY26.
The study says trading costs can make a difficult result even worse.
Retail equity derivatives traders incurred ₹24,800 crore in transaction costs, according to the SEBI study.
The number of active individual traders fell in FY26, but per-trader costs increased among those who continued trading.
Securities transaction tax accounted for 27% of costs in FY26, up from 13% in FY22.
Transaction costs equaled 35% of gross losses for loss-making traders, compared with 21% of gross profits for profitable traders.
About 4.4 lakh traders who were profitable before costs became net loss-makers after deductions in FY26, while 87.7% of traders recorded net losses overall.
- Who
- SEBI and individual traders in the equity derivatives segment.
- What
- A SEBI study found that transaction costs reached ₹24,800 crore and significantly affected retail trading outcomes.
- When
- FY26, with comparisons covering FY22 through FY25.
- Where
- The equity derivatives segment.
- Why
- To examine the effect of brokerage, taxes, exchange charges, GST and other transaction costs on traders’ results.
- Total transaction costs
- ₹24,800 crore in FY26.
- Net losses
- Individual equity derivatives traders recorded aggregate net losses of ₹91,685 crore in FY26.
- Individual traders with net losses
- 87.7% incurred net losses in FY26.
- STT share
- Securities transaction tax represented 27% of total transaction costs in FY26, compared with 13% in FY22.
- STT collections
- STT collections from individual equity derivatives traders rose from ₹1,291 crore in FY22 to ₹6,645 crore in FY26.
- Loss-maker cost burden
- Transaction costs represented 35% of gross losses for loss-making traders in FY26, compared with 21% of gross profits for profit-makers.
- Traders affected by costs
- Approximately 4.4 lakh traders who had gross profits became net loss-makers after transaction costs in FY26.