Trading platforms offer discounts to lure investors in off-peak hours

Trading at off-peak hours can earn you more moolah. Inspired by restaurants and multiplexes, stock broking firms have jumped onto the Happy Hour bandwagon.

For Reliance Securities customers, trading on the platform between 11am and 12.30pm will mean a 10% discount on brokerage. Says B. Gopkumar, CEO, Broking and Distribution, Reliance Capital, “This will build scale and increase participation and volumes. We’re targeting the lean hours and giving retail investors an incentive to trade actively.” A similar offering from Kotak Securities will be available by the end of September. Trading in the Happy Hours will get customers a flat 50% discount on brokerage, provided they place the buy and sell order within the pre-defined Happy Hours.

However, not everyone is happy about the products. Jimeet Modi, CEO of SAMCO Securities, says, “Such schemes harm investors. They are just being lured by discounts on already high brokerage charges.” The Happy Hours scheme could be the fallout of several discount brokers offering better rates than full-fledged broking houses.

For those planning to trade during Happy Hours anyway, a word of caution from Himanshu Dani, Founder and CEO, Invest Search: “Don’t trade outside the CNX 500 universe, strictly maintain stop losses, book profits when you achieve your target price and don’t invest on rumours.”