Zerodha, India’s largest retail brokerage, recently faced another technical outage disrupting real-time price feeds and portfolio updates during peak trading hours. Though order placements remained functional, traders expressed significant frustration over the recurring technical issues affecting their ability to monitor and square off positions promptly. This incident adds to a series of glitches Zerodha has experienced over the past few years, raising concerns about the platform’s reliability, especially given its large client base of over 16 million retail investors and substantial share of the daily trading volume in India.
This outage occurred amid increasing regulatory scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which has tightened technology compliance and audit requirements for brokerages to ensure system reliability and investor protection. SEBI’s regulatory framework now includes more comprehensive audit supervision, including geo-location tracking to verify auditor visits. Zerodha’s management has voiced challenges about the growing regulatory pressures, warning that such mandates could impact innovation and profitability. Nevertheless, this incident highlights the critical need for robust and uninterrupted technological infrastructure in India’s discount broking sector as millions of investors rely on these platforms in volatile market conditions.
Summary:
Zerodha’s recent outage disrupted real-time data during peak trading, frustrating millions of users but order placement stayed intact.
Recurring glitches raise questions about Zerodha’s system reliability, significant given its vast market share and client base.
Heightened SEBI regulations on brokerage technology systems aim to improve compliance and investor safeguards.
Zerodha acknowledges regulatory challenges but emphasizes the necessity for reliable infrastructure in retail broking services.
