NRIs can invest in India through two routes: PIS and Non-PIS. The differences between them are as follows:
| Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS) account | Non-PIS (recommended) |
| Investments can be made from both NRE and NRO bank accounts. | Only NRO accounts are supported. |
| The NRE or NRO account should be with a partner bank. | NRO account can be with any bank. |
| A PIS permission letter from RBI has to be obtained via the partner bank. | A PIS permission letter from RBI is not required. |
| Funds from the bank account have to be transferred to the PIS first. The bank conveys this information to Zerodha, after which the funds become available in the trading account. This can take up to one working day. | Funds for investing are transferred from the NRO account instantly to the trading account using net banking. |
| The bank deducts and pays TDS on short-term capital gains (20%) and long-term capital gains (12.5% above ₹1,25,000 per year). | Zerodha handles TDS on the account. There are no additional charges for collecting and reporting TDS. |
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Brokerage is 0.5% or ₹200 per executed order, whichever is lower.
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Brokerage is 0.5% or ₹50 per executed order, whichever is lower. |
| Banks charge up to ₹300 per contract note (per day of trading). | There are no charges for contract notes. |
| Banks charge an additional AMC (Annual Maintenance Charge) of up to ₹1,500 per year. | Standard AMC of ₹500+GST per year. |
| The global restrictions on maximum foreign or NRI shareholding in a company by RBI are applicable. For example, if HDFC Bank has hit the cap of maximum foreign shareholding, no new NRI PIS purchases will be allowed in the stock. | No restrictions. |
| BTST (Buy Today Sell Tomorrow) is not available. | BTST is available. |
As an NRI, you can choose to open an NRO–Non-PIS account, an NRO–PIS account, or an NRE–PIS account. To trade in the equity segment, an NRE–PIS account is required, while trading in the F&O segment requires an NRO–NON-PIS account. However, there are certain trading restrictions applicable to NRIs.