If you wish to buy shares and hold the same, you need to have a demat account. A demat account acts like a savings bank account, the only difference being that in a savings account cash balances are held, while in a demat account shares are held.
You cannot buy and sell shares through a recognized stock exchange in India, unless you have a demat account.
How to open a demat account?
To open a demat account, you need to call one of the brokers who will open a broking account, which would help you to buy and sell shares and also help you to maintain a demat account. Usually, the same set of documents like photo ID, address proof etc., are needed to open the same.
You cannot only hold shares through this account, but, also NCDs, mutual funds, ETFs etc. There are many brokers who are presently opening this account. Here are a list of brokers, that are presently offering a free demat account. While there could be many more that offer these accounts, we have highlighted just a few. The list could be rather exhaustive.
1. Karvy Online free demat account
Karvy Online offers free demat account and also offers the opportunity to reverse brokerages upto Rs 5,500. Please study the terms and condition to avail brokerage reversal.
The company also offers free advisory services and research report for its clients. Karvy Online has had a long serving track record.
2. Upstox free demat account
Upstox is another firm that offers free demat account. What is most interesting is that the equity deliveries are free, while the intra day orders are charged a flat fee of Rs 20. This is extremely economical.
3. Motilal Oswal free demat account
Motilal Oswal too offers a free demat account. You can trade across devices and the company backs-up support through research and advisory services. Motilal Oswal offers 30,000+ research reports across 230+ companies and 21+ sectors. In-depth Daily, weekly & Monthly reports & recommendations from experts.
4. Samco free demat account
Samco is another company that offers free demat account. The company offers 100 per cent cash back on its brokerage for the first month. The company also offers a flat Rs 20 per transaction, irrespective of the transaction. The mobile app of the company has a very good interface and its easy to trade on the same.
5. Angel Broking free Demat Account
Angel Broking like all others mentioned above also offers a free trading and demat account. The equity delivery based trading is free, while the charges for intra-day trading is just Rs 20, irrespective of the value of the trade. The account opening is paperless and promises to be a hassle free process for the investor.
6. Reliance Smart Money free demat account
Reliance Smart money too offers a free demat account. The account opening by the company is also free of any charge. The platform is also powerful and the account is also backed by research for investors.
7. 5 Paisa.com free demat account
5 Paisa.com is also a great place to open a free demat and trading account. The brokerage is just Rs 10 per trade. You can manage all your investments from a single platform. There is also advanced charting and portfolio module.

Conclusion
There are many places where you can open a free demat account. However, you have to look for other charges, which is very important. Some of these would include broking charges and also processing charges. While even if you get a free demat account and the brokerage charges are high, you tend to lose out. So, one would need to examine all aspects before opening an account. Also, you might want to do a little more research before opening an account.
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