In a blog post on Zerodha’s website, Kamath said the absence of external investors and pressure to deliver on aggressive growth has enabled the company to stay true to its core principles.
These include not spamming users, not tracking behaviour, avoiding differential pricing, and steering clear of practices that may not be in customers’ best interests. He noted that while these ideas are easy to state, they are far more difficult to consistently follow, especially when compared with the approach taken by many listed peers.
Zerodha remains among the few brokers that offer zero brokerage on delivery trades. Kamath said the company does not send notifications aimed at increasing trading activity, does not push margin funding to encourage borrowing, and does not follow differential pricing across products. It also avoids cross-selling financial products, advertising, or using customer data to drive additional revenue streams.
He attributed this approach to Zerodha’s decision to remain bootstrapped. Without external capital, the company does not face the pressure to justify revenue targets or deliver rapid growth. Kamath said this flexibility is especially valuable in the broking business, which is inherently cyclical and closely linked to market conditions. He also highlighted the regulatory risks in the sector, noting that entire segments can be disrupted overnight by policy changes.
Despite not spending on advertising or incentives, Kamath said 25% to 30% of Zerodha’s new accounts come through referrals. He described this as one of the most meaningful indicators of customer trust and satisfaction.Kamath acknowledged that the temptation to push users harder or extract more revenue always exists, but said the company has stayed committed to its founding philosophy of treating customers the way it would want to be treated. He added that avoiding customer acquisition costs has been key to maintaining this discipline, as heavy spending on marketing would inevitably require trade-offs in monetisation.This approach has allowed Zerodha to keep costs low for users, including zero brokerage on equity investing, free direct mutual fund investments, and low intraday charges. Kamath noted that brokerage rates have remained unchanged even as much of the industry has revised pricing. Adjusted for inflation, he said, Zerodha would have had to charge Rs 50 today.
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For the company, the priority remains building strong products and maintaining trust. Kamath said Zerodha would rather grow alongside its customers than at their expense.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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