Upstox looks beyond broking as regulator tames retail mania
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Tiger Global-backed Upstox has sought permits to offer non-bank lending, asset management, and other financial services, as the regulator’s prolonged clampdown on retail frenzy in futures and options has clouded the broking industry’s growth outlook.
While growth almost flattened in the previous fiscal ended March 2025 (FY25), Upstox expects profits to double in the ongoing (FY26) and the next (FY27) financial years, co-founder and CEO Ravi Kumar said in an interview. The sharp improvement in the profitability of India’s fourth-largest broker by clients in FY26 is driven by a tighter focus on high-value, active traders, which lifted the average revenue per active user (Arpu) and improved retention.
“Our Arpu has gone up by over 40%, and we probably have one of the industry-leading retention rates among high-value traders of almost 90%." India’s online brokers grappled with the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’) and the finance ministry’s clampdown against speculative trading in equities and derivatives. Since 2024, Sebi has tightened risk norms across derivatives trading, raising margins, curbing weekly options expiries, limiting retail access to high-risk products, and reworking broker incentives to reduce excessive churn.
The pressure increased further after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the securities transaction tax (STT) on derivatives trades in the Union Budget for 2026–27. The fiscal ended March 2025 was a “fairly difficult" year for the broking industry as regulatory changes added repeated “speed bumps" to growth, Kumar said.
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