Upstox vs KARVY – Comparison
Page Contents Table
Here we compared Upstox vs Karvy based on all segment-wise details knowing which is necessary for every investor. In this comparative study, we highlighted the pros and cons of both the broker for the information of investors.
Karvy is a financial service provider with various products to provide services for its clients, ranging from Equity to Commodity trading to Wealth Management and few other products in the financial sectors.
Karvy Group has an employee strength of over 30,000 with 900 offices which are spread across different cities and towns in India.
Later, they also extended their line of business into Stockbroking, Commodity & Forex Trading, along with various advisory businesses.
Upstox, on the other hand, is also a stockbroking company that also provides different services in the financial sector and is popular for trading at a very low cost and nominal charges.
Upstox Vs. KARVY Overview:
Started in the year 2009, Upstox emerged as a stockbroker with a concept of an easy and cheaper way of trading along with the concept of paperless account opening, free equity investment, unlimited plans to trade on fixed price, etc.
These features made Upstox gain its popularity soon within a short period with a turnover of 4000 Cr. by early February 2016.
Another factor of their speedy success was due to their strong backend support from notable and renowned stock traders like Ratan Tata, GVK Davis, and Capital Kalaari.
After establishing in the year 1983 as a Full-Service Broker and headquartered in Hyderabad, Karvy is now headed by Mr. C Parthasarathy as Chairman and Managing Director, with M. Yuganchar as Managing Director and M. S. Ramakrishna as Director in their management.
Overview | Upstox | Karvy |
Establishment Type | Private | Private |
Broker Category | Discount Broker | Full-Service Broker |
Head office | Mumbai, India | Hyderabad, India |
Founded By | Raghu Kumar, Ravi Kumar & Shrinivas Vishvanath | C Parthasarathy |
Launched Year | 2009 | 1983 |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Customer Ratings:
The comparison chart below in terms of Customer Ratings and their experience between Upstox vs Karvy shows that Karvy maintains steady ratings in every parameter,
whereas Upstox has a very high fluctuation from as low as 3.0 in Stock Research & Advisory and as high as 9.5 in case of Brokerage Charges & Fees out of 10.
Customer Ratings | Upstox | Karvy |
On Experience | 5.3 out of 10 | 6.0 out of 10 |
On Products & Services | 6.5 out of 10 | 6.5 out of 10 |
On Brokerage Charges & Fees | 9.5 out of 10 | 7.0 out of 10 |
On Stock Research & Advisory | 3.0 out of 10 | 6.7 out of 10 |
On Trading Platforms | 6.5 out of 10 | 6.5 out of 10 |
On Overall Ratings | 6.2 out of 10 | 6.5 out of 10 |
On Star Ratings | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
Comparison on AMC & AOC:
In the case of AMC & AOC, it’s just a mix and match between Upstox and Karvy. Except for Account Opening Charges, Upstox charges less or free in certain cases as compared to Karvy, whereas Karvy charges Margin Money up to Rs. 1 lakh from their customers which is always Zero in case of Upstox.
Demat Services | Upstox | Karvy |
Depository Participant | CDSL | CDSL |
Charges for Account Opening | Rs.150 | Free |
AMC on Demat | Rs.150 per Annum | Rs.500 per Annum |
AMC on Trading | Free | Free |
Marginal Money | Zero | Zero to Rs.1 lakh |
Offline to Online | No | No |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Brokerage Fee:
Charging a nominal fixed amount or free Brokerage Fee is the beauty of Upstox, while Karvy charges based on a percentage of transaction value in most of the cases.
Brokerage Charge & Fees | Upstox Brokerage | Karvy Brokerage |
Equity Delivery Trading | Zero | 0.1% – 0.3% |
Equity Intraday Trading | Rs.20 | 0.01% – 0.03% |
Commodity Options Trading | Rs.20 | 0.01% – 0.03% |
Equity Futures Trading | Rs.20 | 0.01% – 0.03% |
Equity Options Trading | Rs.20 per lot | Rs.10 – Rs.30 per lot |
Currency Futures Trading | Rs.20 | 0.01% – 0.03% |
Currency Options Trading | Rs.20 per lot | Rs.10 – Rs.30 per lot |
Minimum Brokerage | Rs.20 | Percentage of Transaction |
Demat AMC Charges | Rs.150 per annum | Rs.500 per annum |
Trading AMC Charges | Free | Free |
Margin Money | Zero | Zero to Rs.1 lakh |
Comparison of Other Charges:
Apart from compliance charges which are the same for both Upstox and Karvy, Upstox charges less Transaction Fee than that of Karvy.
Other Charges | Upstox | Karvy |
Transaction Charges | 0.00275% of Total Turnover | 0.00325% of Total Turnover |
STT | 0.0126% of Total Turnover | 0.0126% of Total Turnover |
SEBI Turnover Charges | 0.0002% of Total Turnover | 0.0002% of Total Turnover |
Stamp Duty | Depends on State (very minimal) | Depends on State (very minimal) |
GST | 18% of (Brokerage + Transaction Charges) | 18% of (Brokerage + Transaction Charges) |
Comparison of Offers and Discount:
Lucrative Offers and Discounts are usually considered to play an important role in any business strategy to attract new customers. The below table shows a comparative study between Upstox and Karvy, where it can be noticed that both of them have very limited engagements in such activities.
Offers | Upstox | Karvy |
Free Demat Account | ✖ | ✔ |
Free Trading Account | ✔ | ✖ |
Discount on Brokerage | ✔ | ✖ |
Trading Happy Hours | ✖ | ✖ |
Flexible Brokerage Plans | ✖ | ✔ |
1 Month Brokerage Free | ✖ | ✖ |
Holiday Offers | ✖ | ✖ |
Referral Offers | ✖ | ✖ |
Zero Brokerage for Loss Making Trades | ✖ | ✖ |
Comparison on Service Offered:
Both Upstox and Karvy provide similar services except, Karvy offers an additional service of PMS to their clients.
Services | Upstox | Karvy |
Demat Services | ✔ | ✔ |
Trading Services | ✔ | ✔ |
3 in 1 Account | ✖ | ✖ |
Intraday Services | ✔ | ✔ |
IPO Services | ✔ | ✔ |
Stock Recommendations | ✖ | ✔ |
Robo Advisory | ✔ | ✖ |
PMS | ✖ | ✔ |
Trading Institution | ✖ | ✖ |
Trading Exposure | Maximum 20x | Maximum 20x |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Research & Advisory:
When comparing Upstox vs Karvy, it is quite prominent from the below table that, Upstox lacks in Research & Advisory and does not provide any such services to their clients.
Karvy, on the other hand, engages in a couple of such activities and provides various Research & Advisory tips and analytical reports to their customers.
Research & Advisory | Upstox | Karvy |
Fundamental Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Research Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Company Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Annual Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Company Stock Review | ✖ | ✔ |
Free Stock Tips | ✖ | ✖ |
IPO Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Top Picks | ✖ | ✖ |
Daily Market Review | ✖ | ✖ |
Monthly Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Weekly Reports | ✖ | ✔ |
Offline Advisory | ✖ | ✔ |
Relationship Manager | ✖ | ✔ |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Margin/ Exposure/ Leverage
While considering Leverage, both Upstox and Karvy have the process of it, however, Karvy’s leverage strategy is more than that of Upstox in most of the parameters.
Exposure / Leverage | Upstox Margin | Karvy Margin |
Equity Delivery | Maximum 5x | Maximum 10x |
Equity Intraday | Maximum 20x | Maximum 20x |
Equity Futures | Maximum 7x | Maximum 10x |
Equity Options | Maximum 8x | Maximum 15x |
Currency Futures | Maximum 5x | Maximum 12x |
Currency Options | Maximum 6x | Maximum 10x |
Commodities | Maximum 7x | Maximum 12x |
Comparison of Products:
Upstox has very limited products to serve its customers, while on the other hand, except Forex, Insurance and in the Banking sector, Karvy has all other products. This means investors get more options from Karvy to select their product range for trading.
Products | Upstox | Karvy |
Equity Trading | ✔ | ✔ |
Commodity Trading | No | ✔ |
Currency Trading | ✔ | ✔ |
Options | ✔ | ✔ |
Futures | ✔ | ✔ |
Mutual Funds | ✖ | ✔ |
Forex | ✖ | ✖ |
Banking | ✖ | ✖ |
SIP | ✖ | ✔ |
Insurance | ✖ | ✖ |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Trading Platform:
Both Upstox and Karvy equally have various Trading Platforms except none have any mobile version of Windows and other Mobile OS Platforms.
Trading Platforms | Upstox | Karvy |
Desktop Platform – Windows | ✔ | ✔ |
Desktop Platform – Mac | ✔ | ✔ |
Desktop Browser Platform | ✔ | ✔ |
Mobile Site Platform | ✔ | ✔ |
Android App Platform | ✔ | ✔ |
iOS App Platform | ✔ | ✔ |
Windows App Platform | ✖ | ✖ |
Other Mobile OS Platform | ✖ | ✖ |
Real-time Updates | ✔ | ✔ |
Portfolio Details | ✔ | ✔ |
Online MF Buy | ✔ | ✔ |
News Flash | ✔ | ✔ |
Research Reports | ✔ | ✔ |
Easy Installation | ✔ | ✔ |
Global Indices | ✔ | ✔ |
Stock Tips | ✔ | ✔ |
Personalized Advisory | ✔ | ✔ |
Interactive Charts | ✔ | ✔ |
Live Markets | ✔ | ✔ |
SMS Alerts | ✔ | ✔ |
Email Alerts | ✔ | ✔ |
Multi-Account Management | ✔ | ✔ |
Upstox Vs. KARVY Customer Support:
Karvy has more ways to give support to its customers than Upstox. Karvy even supports their customers through Dedicated Dealers as well as through their Branches which are spread across various cities and towns.
Customer Support | Upstox | Karvy |
Dedicated Dealer | ✖ | ✔ |
Offline Trading | ✖ | ✔ |
Online Trading | ✔ | ✔ |
24*7 Support | ✖ | ✖ |
Support Number | 022 – 6130 9999 | 040 – 6750 6200 |
Email Support | ✔ | ✔ |
Chat Support | ✖ | ✖ |
Toll-Free Number | ✖ | 1800 419 8283 |
Branches | Zero | 110 |
Comparison of Complaints Handled:
No organization can be error-free without any customer complaints. It is important, how sooner the complaints are handled and resolved. It is quite a clear form of the below table that, in both BSE and NESE, Karvy’s resolution percentage is over 80% and is higher than that of Upstox.
Complaints (Current Year) | Upstox | Karvy |
Lodged in BSE | 185 | 210 |
Resolved in BSE | 126 | 185 |
Lodged in NSE | 175 | 165 |
Resolved in NSE | 139 | 143 |
Conclusion:
From the above facts and figures drawn from various sources, it can be concluded that both Upstox and Karvy have their pros and cons varying from product to product.
Hence, before choosing a broker, the investor has to first identify his/her actual need and the type of trade one needs to do. Post identifying the need, one has to choose whether to opt for Upstox or Karvy.