Delivery Trading

Delivery trading refers to purchasing equity shares on NSE or BSE with the intention of holding them for more than one trading session — resulting in the actual delivery of shares into the buyer's Demat account. It is the standard mode for long-term equity investment, as opposed to intraday trading where positions are opened and closed within the same day. In delivery trading, the buyer pays the full value of the purchased shares upfront (no margin leverage), and shares are credited to the Demat account on T+1 under India's current settlement cycle. Delivery trades provide all shareholder rights — dividends, bonus shares, rights issue participation, and voting rights — which intraday positions do not. From a taxation perspective, shares sold more than one year after delivery date are subject to Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax, while those sold within one year attract Short-Term Capital Gains (STCG) tax. The delivery percentage in a stock's daily trading volume is a useful indicator of investor conviction — high delivery percentage signals genuine investment interest rather than speculative activity.