Auto Square-Off

Auto square-off is an automated risk management mechanism used by Indian stockbrokers that automatically closes (squares off) an investor's open intraday trading position before the end of the trading session — if the investor fails to manually exit the position themselves before the broker's specified auto square-off time. In India, most brokers initiate auto square-off of intraday positions (MIS — Margin Intraday Square-off orders) between 3:15 PM and 3:20 PM IST, approximately 10 to 15 minutes before the regular market close at 3:30 PM. The auto square-off protects both the broker and the investor from the risk of unintended overnight delivery obligations — intraday traders who use leveraged margin facilities are not expected to take or provide delivery of shares and must close their positions within the trading day. Auto square-off orders are typically executed at market price, which may result in execution at an unfavourable price — particularly in volatile markets near the session close. Brokers charge an additional auto square-off fee (typically ₹20 to ₹50 per position) over and above the standard brokerage for positions squared off automatically. Traders should monitor their intraday positions and close them manually before the auto square-off time to avoid unexpected execution prices.