SEBI curbs retail F&O losses
Analysis based on 12 articles · First reported Aug 11, 2026 · Last updated Aug 11, 2026
The regulatory tightening reduced retail participation and trading volumes in equity derivatives, lowering aggregate retail losses but increasing average loss per investor. This is likely to dampen exchange volumes and brokerage revenues in the F&O segment, while boosting government tax collections from securities transaction tax.
In FY26, regulatory measures introduced by the India — Securities and Exchange Board of India since November 2024 reduced aggregate net losses of retail investors in the equity derivatives (F&O) segment to Rs 91,685 crore, down 18% from Rs 1,11,788 crore in FY25. The number of unique individual investors fell about 20% to 78.6 lakh from 98.1 lakh, while overall equity derivatives turnover dropped to Rs 202 lakh crore from Rs 213 lakh crore. However, average loss per investor rose to Rs 1,16,654 from Rs 1,13,913. The measures included rationalisation of weekly and monthly index derivatives, higher contract sizes, increased tail-risk coverage, upfront collection of option premiums, removal of calendar spread treatment on expiry day, and intraday monitoring of position limits. In May 2025, additional steps streamlined expiry days across exchanges and improved risk monitoring. Securities Transaction Tax collections from F&O trades surged to Rs 27,695 crore from Rs 7,893 crore. The data was disclosed by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to the India — Rajya Sabha.
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