“Having said that, when you’re building a business for the long term, focusing on quarterly or even annual growth is a poor metric. The more you focus on them, the higher the odds that you’ll do things that are bad for your customers,” he said.
The remarks come at a time when India’s largest brokerage by active clients is already under pressure from a series of regulatory moves targeting the booming futures and options (F&O) market.
These include higher securities transaction tax (STT) on F&O trades, tighter intraday rules, the removal of exchange fee rebates, and the proposed introduction of ASBA for stock trading.
Weekly index options, which account for the bulk of retail derivatives activity, have been crucial in sustaining Zerodha’s zero-brokerage delivery model. Kamath has earlier acknowledged in a blog post that if weekly options were scrapped, the firm may have to pivot and start charging brokerage on equity delivery trades — a move that would mark a break from its core strategy since inception.
The impact of curbs is already visible. Brokerage revenues in the June 2025 quarter, Kamath said earlier, could fall as much as 40% year-on-year. New account additions have also slowed, despite the broker scrapping account-opening fees last year.Yet Kamath’s latest post underscores Zerodha’s long-term positioning. With no external shareholders and a balance sheet that allows patience, the company appears prepared to ride out regulatory turbulence.
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