What is AMC?
AMC (Annual Maintenance Charge) is the fee your broker charges to maintain your demat account — the account where your shares are held electronically. A portion of this goes to the depository (CDSL or NSDL), and the broker keeps the rest.
AMC is charged regardless of how many trades you make. If you invest once a year or once a month, the AMC is the same. This makes it especially important for passive, long-term investors.
AMC across all 15 brokers
The AMC trap for passive investors
Consider someone who invests ₹5,000/month in SIPs and makes 12 delivery trades a year. At Zerodha (zero brokerage, ₹88.50 AMC), their annual broker cost is about ₹273 (AMC + 12 DP charges). At HDFC Securities, the same investor pays ₹885 AMC + much higher brokerage + DP charges — easily ₹5,000+ per year. That's money that could stay invested.