BSE to waive transaction fees for stocks in Sensex 30 index

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the country’s second-largest bourse, on Monday said it would waive transaction charges on equities in its flagship S&P BSE Sensex 30 index with effect from March 12 in a move to facilitate and encourage participation by retail investors.

"S&P BSE Sensex is the barometer of Indian economy. This move is aimed at facilitating and encouraging participation by retail investors in financially sound companies," the stock exchange major said in a statement.

"BSE, also known as India's investment exchange, firmly believes that this move will help India in the growth story as BSE will now be the most preferred exchange for transacting in S&P BSE Sensex 30 stocks, which are considered to be growth engine for India."

Currently, transaction charges range from Rs 0.50-1.5 per trade for securities under group A, B and other non-exclusive scrips.

The 30-scrip stocks which constitute the Sensex are Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Larsen and Toubro, Axis Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Adani Ports and Kotak Mahindra Bank, among others.

Other stocks which constitute the barometer index include those of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, Dr Reddy's Labs, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, Yes Bank, Asian Paint, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Tata Steel, NTPC, State Bank of India, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Sun Pharma.

The S&P BSE Sensex index has been designed to measure "the performance of the 30 largest, most liquid and financially sound companies" across key sectors of the Indian economy. Trading members of the BSE pay Rs 1.50 per trade for monthly volume of up to 1,00,000, and Rs 1.25 for 1,00,001 to 3,00,000 number of transactions.

Further, Re 1 per trade is being charged from the members for a monthly trade count of 3,00,001 - 5,00,000, while volumes between 5,00,001 20,00,000 attract Rs 0.75 per trade as transaction fees.

Trading members shell out Rs 0.50 for monthly trades exceeding 20 lakh.

BSE has classified equity scrips into categories such as Group A, B, T, among others, to provide a guidance to the investors.

Group A is the most tracked segment consisting of about 300 scrips, while Group B consists of more than 3,000 stocks.