Groww adds 350,000 users in January as online brokerages recover from 2024 slump

After losing about 10% users in 2024, brokerages added active users in January 2026 amid an IPO boom, even as the threat of fresh curbs on F&O trading looms.

The turnaround marks a sharp contrast to last year's challenges, when increased Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and tighter regulations on futures and options (F&O) trading had dampened growth across the sector.

Online stockbroking company Groww continued its momentum from the previous quarter, recording its fourth consecutive month of expansion. The platform onboarded about 350,000 new users in January, representing 2.9% growth that pushed its total user count from 12.1 million in December to 12.5 million in January.

Company executives pointed to the resurgent IPO market as the primary driver behind this growth, noting that recent high-profile public offerings—including those from LG Electronics India, Meesho, and Groww itself—successfully brought inactive accounts back to life.

Zerodha's performance was particularly notable, ending a year-long decline by adding over 10,000 users during the month and bringing its total user base to 6.86 million.

Among other major players, Paytm Money achieved the second-highest growth rate at 1.6%, reaching 860,000 users. Dhan saw its customer base expand by 1.51% with nearly 15,000 new additions.

However, not all platforms shared in the recovery. PhonePe's Share.Market experienced the steepest contraction among major new-age brokerages, losing nearly 5% of its user base to fall to approximately 237,000 accounts in January. Upstox lost 2% of its users in January taking its total user base to 20,36,413 users in January 2026.

Even as user additions show signs of recovery, recently hiked transaction costs threaten to weigh on trading activity.

In the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a steep increase in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives, effective April 1, 2026. The tax on futures contracts has been raised to 0.05% from 0.02%, while the levy on options premiums has increased to 0.15% from 0.10%. The tax on the exercise of options has also been hiked to 0.15% from 0.125%.

The higher STT significantly raises the cost of executing derivatives trades, a segment that accounts for a large share of volumes for most retail-focused brokerages. For active traders who rely on thin margins and frequent trades, the increase could make several strategies less viable.

The government has argued that the derivatives market has expanded at a pace that warrants caution. India is now the world’s largest equity derivatives market by contract volume, with notional turnover running at multiples of the country’s GDP.