Higher margins are blocked for your F&O trades close to expiry because physical settlement requires the actual delivery of the underlying stock. As Futures and Options (F&O) contracts near their expiry date and approach physical delivery, the margins required for these contracts are increased in proportion to the contract value.
Your margin requirements increase at the following times:
- Four days before expiry (previous week Wednesday to expiry day) in case of open in-the-money(ITM) long options positions.
- On the expiry day, if any open future or short option positions are required to be physically settled.
You can check the increased margin requirements on the margin calculator or the Kite order window, as displayed below:
