A heated dispute over withdrawal limits at India’s largest brokerage flared online this week, after a well-known investor hit a digital ceiling while trying to move a hefty sum from his Zerodha account.
Investor Aniruddha Malpani took to X to accuse Zerodha of running a “scam,” alleging that the platform blocked him from accessing his own funds. “They use my money for free!” he wrote, tagging co-founder Nikhil Kamath and calling the ₹5 crore daily withdrawal cap “unfair.”
The post included a screenshot showing an available cash balance of ₹429 crore—far beyond Zerodha’s default withdrawal ceiling. While Malpani didn’t specify how much he tried to withdraw, the image made clear it exceeded the platform’s automated limits.
Zerodha responded publicly, directing Malpani to raise a support ticket to withdraw more than ₹5 crore. “Please create a ticket from the above link and DM us the ticket number. We’ll get this processed,” the brokerage wrote, pointing to its existing policy for manual approvals on large transfers.
Ajay Rotti, founder of TaxCompass, weighed in to defend the broker. “It isn’t a scam… People need to be aware of these limits and plan their transactions,” he said, noting that banks and UPI systems also impose per-day caps to prevent fraud.
Zerodha’s rules, publicly listed in its support documentation, limit default daily withdrawals to ₹5 crore to ensure compliance and security. Instant withdrawals—up to ₹2 lakh—are only available under specific conditions, such as no open trades and settled funds.
Critics like Malpani argue that these measures restrict rightful access. But defenders say they are essential guardrails in a market where account security is paramount.
Zerodha has not commented further but referred Malpani to standard procedures laid out for large transactions.
