Fall in active clients at discount brokerages narrows sharply in October

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After months of steep declines, the fall in active clients of discount brokerages narrowed sharply in October, with several firms posting mixed performances. The combined active client base across all stock brokers on the exchanges dropped by 57,650 in October, compared to a fall of 8.88 lakh in September and 9.72 lakh in August. In July, the reduction stood at 7.22 lakh.

During the June quarter, active clients declined by 13.13 lakh, while the March quarter saw a reduction of 9.63 lakh. Since the beginning of the year, nearly 50 lakh active clients have exited, bringing the total to 4.53 crore in October 2025 from 5.02 crore in December 2024.

Groww, India’s largest brokerage platform, led the gains in October, adding about 1.38 lakh active clients. The brokerage had lost more than 12.5 lakh active clients between January and September. Paytm Money and SBICap Securities followed with additions of 29,935 and 25,235 active clients respectively. ICICI Securities, Axis Securities, and Moneywise Finvest added around 13,000, 10,500, and 6,750 clients during the month.

The moderation in client erosion coincided with an improvement in Indian markets. The Sensex and Nifty advanced 3 percent each, while the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices rose 4 percent and 3 percent respectively. Foreign institutional investors, who had been net sellers for several months, turned buyers and invested around $1.6 billion in domestic equities.

Among the major losers, Zerodha, led by founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, saw the sharpest decline with a loss of 62,225 active clients. Upstox Securities and Angel One followed, shedding 58,800 and 34,638 clients respectively. Other brokerages that witnessed declines included Mirae Asset Capital, Kotak Securities, HDFC Securities, PhonePe Wealth, Indstocks, Sharekhan, and Motilal Oswal.