Types of Demat Account

There are three types of Demat Account:

1. Regular Demat Account: It is a type of Demat Account which is suitable for Indian resident investors who trade in stock market only for personal investment purpose and need a place to store their securities. Investors can hold different securities electronically such as bonds, stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. There is an Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC) with a regular Demat Account.

SEBI has introduced a Basic Services Demat Account (BSDA), eliminating or reducing the Annual Maintenance Charge based on the size of the investment. It was introduced especially to help the small-time investors who have to pay high AMC despite of their minimal holdings. The basic motive behind BSDA was to increase more participation from the small investors.

2. Repatriable Demat Account: It is a type of Demat Account which is specifically designed f the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who wants to trade in the Indian Stock Market. The NRIs can repatriate their invested funds and earned returns, back to their residence country. However, to open a Repatriable Demat Account, an investor needs to get approval from the Reserve Bank of India. The Repatriable Account holders have to like their Non-resident External Accounts with their Demant Accounts, which allows them to repatriate up to one million US dollars on an annual basis.

3. Non-Repatriable Demat Account: This account is also designed for the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). But, they cannot repatriate the funds invested and returns earned outside India. Also, unlike Repatriable Demat Account, the investment holders can use this account without the approval from RBI.