Reliance Money, the brokerage and financial products distribution arm of Reliance Capital - the Anil Ambani group's financial services unit, today said it was offering free trading accounts for one year with which one can trade in shares up to Rs 5 lakh. The company was earlier charging a flat fee of Rs 500 for trading up to Rs 5 lakh in one year. Reliance Money was the first company in India to offer a flat-fee structure for trading in stocks, commodities and other instruments as against the industry practice of percentage brokerage charges per transaction. The industry brokerage fees averages around 0.5% for delivery-based equity trades (around Rs 2,500 for Rs 5 lakh trading).Other brokerages like ICICI Direct and HDFC Securities charge 0.25-0.75% on delivery-based equity trades. The Reliance Money offer would be available to those opening a demat account with Reliance Money in the next few weeks, the company said.
