T+0 Settlement on NSE: How Same-Day Settlement Works, Eligible Stocks and 2026 Status

T+0 settlement on NSE is the optional same-day cycle that lets a buyer get shares and a seller get money on the trade date itself, instead of the next trading day under the usual T+1 cycle. SEBI launched a beta version in March 2024 for 25 stocks, widened the framework in December 2024 to the top 500 companies by market capitalisation, and then pushed back the deadline for Qualified Stock Brokers to build the systems needed to support it. This guide covers how the T+0 segment works, which stocks qualify under SEBI’s rules, the trading window, price band and settlement rules, a worked example, and where the rollout stands in 2026.

For the daily context in which these settlement rules sit, keep our Stock Market Today India hub handy. If you are still learning how the trading day itself is structured, our guide to the NSE pre-open session explains what happens before 9:15 AM.

What is T+0 settlement on NSE?

“T” is the trade date, and the number after it is how many trading days later the trade settles — the day shares land in the buyer’s demat account and money reaches the seller. The BusinessLine describes the T+0 cycle simply as a mechanism in which shares and money are credited to buyers and sellers on the day of the trade.

India’s standard cycle today is T+1. According to SEBI’s March 21, 2024 circular on the T+0 beta version, SEBI allowed the T+1 cycle through a circular dated September 7, 2021, and exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories moved to it in phases, finishing the shift with effect from January 27, 2023.

The word that shows up in every SEBI document on this is optional. T+0 does not replace T+1. It runs beside it as a separate segment for eligible stocks, and investors pick which cycle a trade goes into.

Why SEBI wanted same-day settlement

The March 2024 circular lays out SEBI’s reasoning. It says the technology, architecture and capacity of market infrastructure institutions — the exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories — have evolved enough to shorten settlement further. It notes that India’s depositories can see individual client holdings in digital form and can transfer securities immediately, and that the country’s payment systems have long allowed real-time transfer of funds.

SEBI’s stated benefits of a shorter cycle are cost and time efficiency, transparency in charges to investors, and stronger risk management at clearing corporations and across the market. The proposal placed before SEBI’s Board covered optional T+0 settlement first and an optional instant settlement later, both in addition to T+1.

T+0 does not replace T+1. It is a parallel, optional lane for eligible stocks, and each investor decides which lane a trade uses.

How the T+0 segment works: the operating rules

The March 2024 circular lists the core operational guidelines for the T+0 segment. The December 2024 circular later modified the scope and rescinded some provisions, but it states that all other provisions of the March 2024 circular remain applicable, so these rules still describe how the segment is designed.

• Who can trade. All investors are eligible, provided they can meet the timelines, process and risk requirements set by the exchanges and clearing corporations.
• Trading hours. There is one continuous trading session from 9:15 AM to 1:30 PM.
• Price band. Prices in the T+0 segment operate within a band of 100 basis points (one percentage point) measured from the price of the same stock in the regular T+1 market. The band is recalibrated after every 50 basis points of movement in the T+1 market.
• Surveillance. The surveillance measures that apply to a stock in the T+1 cycle also apply to it in the T+0 cycle.
• No effect on index or closing price. T+0 prices are not used to calculate indices or settlement prices, and there is no separate closing price for a stock based on T+0 trading.
• No netting across cycles. Pay-in and pay-out obligations in the T+1 cycle and the T+0 cycle are not netted against each other.

Two of these rules shape how the segment behaves on the ground. The price band keeps the T+0 price close to the main market, so the same-day lane cannot drift far from the price discovered in the much larger T+1 market. And the absence of netting means each cycle settles on its own: a buy in one cycle and a sell in the other are two separate obligations, not one offsetting position.

Which stocks qualify for T+0 settlement?

The eligible list has been set in two stages.

1. The beta list of 25 stocks. The March 2024 circular created the beta version for a limited set of 25 scrips and a limited number of brokers, with effect from March 28, 2024. SEBI’s December 2024 circular adds that, to avoid disruption, the mechanism was enabled only for non-custodian clients from that date, which meant clients who trade through custodians could not use the beta.
2. The top 500 by market capitalisation. SEBI’s December 10, 2024 circular made the optional cycle available to the top 500 scrips by market capitalisation as on December 31, 2024. They were to be added in phases, starting with the bottom 100 of those 500 companies and adding the next 100 every month until all 500 were available. This list is in addition to the original 25 beta scrips.

The circular asks the exchanges to publish the list of eligible scrips, operational guidelines and FAQs on their websites. Because brokers decide whether to build access, the practical answer to “can I trade this stock in T+0?” hangs on two things: whether the stock is on the exchange’s eligible list, and whether your broker offers the T+0 segment at all.

What changed in December 2024

Beyond the larger list of stocks, the December 2024 circular changed who could take part and added a new trading window.

• All brokers may participate. Every stock broker is allowed to offer the optional T+0 cycle, and brokers may charge different brokerage for T+0 and T+1 trades, within the regulatory limit.
• Qualified Stock Brokers must build systems. Brokers designated as Qualified Stock Brokers (QSBs) that met the minimum active-client threshold for QSB status as on December 31, 2024 were required to put systems in place so their investors could participate seamlessly. A broker newly added to the QSB list gets three months from the list update.
• Custodians and institutions. Exchanges, clearing corporations, depositories and custodians were asked to build systems so institutional investors can also take part.
• A T+0 block deal window. Exchanges were to set up a block deal window for the T+0 cycle, available only in the morning session from 8:45 AM to 9:00 AM. It sits alongside the existing T+1 block deal windows of 8:45 AM to 9:00 AM and 2:05 PM to 2:20 PM, and trades in it settle on T+0. Our explainer on bulk deals and block deals on NSE covers how those windows are disclosed.

On timing, the circular made the larger stock list, participation by all brokers, and the publication and reporting requirements applicable from January 31, 2025. The QSB, custodian and T+0 block deal provisions were to apply from May 1, 2025.

Where the T+0 rollout stands in 2026

The QSB deadline is where the rollout stalled. SEBI’s October 30, 2025 circular records that a circular dated April 29, 2025 had already moved the QSB deadline from May 1, 2025 to November 1, 2025. The October 2025 circular then extended it again, citing the challenges QSBs raised about being ready on time, and set no new date. It says further guidance will be given later and that all other provisions of the December 2024 circular remain unchanged.

The BusinessLine report from July 26, 2026 says the rollout remains in limbo and has effectively been put on the back burner after repeated extensions amid resistance from brokers. According to the report, brokers were not ready with the required systems because same-day settlement both reduces their float income and raises technology spending.

Market participants quoted in that report pointed to several obstacles:

• Rajesh Singla of Alpha AMC said brokers must run T+0 and T+1 settlements at the same time for the same securities under the same ISIN, an operational complexity most brokers have not built the back-end infrastructure for.
• He also said the T+0 cut-off leaves out the afternoon session, so investors must decide under a time limit that does not exist in T+1, and that institutional and foreign investors were left out because custodians would have to arrange foreign exchange and securities within the same day. Without institutions, he argued, volumes will stay thin.
• Anand James of Geojit Investments said a buyer may not be as keen as a seller to arrange funds on the same day when T+1 is already running, and that long-term investors see little visible incentive to switch.

The rules for same-day settlement exist on paper for up to 500 stocks; what is missing is the plumbing at brokers and custodians that would let most investors actually use them.

Worked example: one trade, two settlement cycles

The figures below are hypothetical and are only meant to show how the rules fit together.

Suppose an investor holds 50 shares of a stock that is on the exchange’s T+0 eligible list, and the investor’s broker offers the T+0 segment. On a Monday at 11:00 AM, the stock trades at ₹1,200 in the regular T+1 market.

• Price band check. A 100 basis point band is 1% of the T+1 price. One per cent of ₹1,200 is ₹12, so the band is set ₹12 from the T+1 price at that moment. If the T+1 price moves by 50 basis points, which is ₹6 at ₹1,200, the band is recalibrated around the new price.
• Selling in T+1. If the investor sells all 50 shares at ₹1,200 in the regular market, the gross value is 50 × ₹1,200 = ₹60,000. Under T+1, settlement happens on the next trading day, Tuesday.
• Selling in T+0. If the investor instead sells the 50 shares in the T+0 segment at ₹1,205, inside the band, the gross value is 50 × ₹1,205 = ₹60,250. That is ₹250 more than the T+1 sale in this example, and the trade settles on Monday itself, the day of the trade. The T+0 price will not always be higher; it depends on the orders in the T+0 segment at that moment.
• Timing limit. The order has to be placed within the T+0 session, which ends at 1:30 PM. A sale decided at 2:00 PM could only go through the regular T+1 market.
• No netting. If the same investor also bought 50 shares of the same stock in the T+1 market that morning, that purchase would not be netted against the T+0 sale. Each would be settled as its own obligation in its own cycle.

The example lays out the comparison in plain numbers. In this hypothetical, the price gap between the two segments is ₹5 a share, or ₹250 on 50 shares, and it could just as well run the other way. Whether choosing T+0 makes sense depends on the price available in each segment at the time, any differential brokerage the broker charges for T+0, and how much a one-day-earlier settlement matters to that investor.

T+0 vs T+1 at a glance

• Settlement day. T+0 settles on the trade date; T+1 settles on the next trading day.
• Trading hours. T+0 has a single session from 9:15 AM to 1:30 PM; T+1 runs through the full trading day.
• Price discovery. T+0 prices stay within the 100 basis point band from the T+1 price and do not feed into indices, settlement prices or closing prices.
• Coverage. T+1 is the standard cycle for the equity cash market; T+0 is limited to the eligible list of up to the top 500 stocks plus the 25 beta scrips, and only through brokers that offer it.
• Brokerage. Brokers may charge different brokerage for the two cycles, within the regulatory limit.
• Surveillance. The same surveillance measures apply in both cycles. A stock’s daily price limits in the main market are explained in our guide to the NSE price band and circuit limit.

Who might use T+0, and who should not bother

Because the money arrives the same day, the cycle is most relevant to an investor who sells and wants the funds settled immediately, or a buyer who wants shares in the demat account on the day of purchase. For most long-term investors, the one-day difference between T+0 and T+1 changes little — a point the Geojit strategist quoted by BusinessLine also made.

Before trying it, check three things with your broker: whether it offers the T+0 segment, whether the stock you want is on the current eligible list, and what brokerage and charges apply to T+0 trades. Also remember that T+0 orders must be placed before 1:30 PM and that the price you get may differ slightly from the main market within the band.

Frequently asked questions

Is T+0 settlement mandatory?

No. SEBI’s circulars describe it as an optional cycle that co-exists with T+1. Investors choose whether a trade goes into the T+0 segment.

What are the T+0 trading hours?

One continuous session from 9:15 AM to 1:30 PM, according to SEBI’s March 2024 circular. A separate T+0 block deal window runs from 8:45 AM to 9:00 AM under the December 2024 circular.

Do T+0 trades affect the Nifty or a stock’s closing price?

No. SEBI says T+0 prices are not considered in index calculation or settlement price computation, and there is no separate closing price based on T+0 trading.

Which stocks are eligible?

The 25 beta scrips from March 2024 plus the top 500 companies by market capitalisation as on December 31, 2024, added in monthly batches of 100. The exchanges publish the current list.

Why can’t I see T+0 in my trading app?

Most likely because your broker has not built access to it. SEBI’s deadline for Qualified Stock Brokers to put T+0 systems in place was extended in October 2025 without a new date, and BusinessLine reported in July 2026 that broker readiness was still the sticking point.

Putting it together

T+0 settlement on NSE is a working rulebook waiting for wider adoption. SEBI has set out who can trade, the 9:15 AM to 1:30 PM window, a 100 basis point price band tied to the T+1 market, separate settlement with no netting, and an eligible list of up to the top 500 companies plus the original 25. What has not arrived is broad broker and custodian support, because the deadline for Qualified Stock Brokers was deferred in 2025 and left open. Until SEBI issues fresh guidance, treat T+0 as a niche, optional lane, and confirm with your broker whether you can use it at all.

This article is for education only and is not investment advice. The worked example uses hypothetical prices. Settlement rules, eligible stock lists and broker offerings can change; check the latest SEBI circulars, exchange notices and your broker’s terms before trading. Consult a SEBI-registered adviser before making investment decisions.