For a trader who trade in options, the brokerage is one the most important factor which decide if you end up in profit or loss. Before discount broker operation were started in India, option brokerage was very high and most of the retail investor were never able to make money in Option trading. If you are a beginner and want to know more about option trading, have a look at our video on basics of option trading.
Full service broker like ICICI, Angel Broking and Sharekhan charge brokerage for each lot. The brokerage could vary from Rs 10 – Rs 100/option/lot. You should keep in mind that this brokerage is per lot, so if you trade in more than one lot in a trade, 
the brokerage would be multiplied. For example, if your broker charges Rs 50/option lot and you brought 10 lot, you will have to pay a brokerage of Rs 500 and there would be an additional taxed which you have to pay. With this high charges, option trading was a loss making area.
But with the coming of discount broker, option trading has become much cheaper and lot of retail investor have started to dabble in this. Compared to these expensive brokers, discount brokers have a much lower brokerage charge in option trading.
Major discount brokers in India are Zerodha, Upstox and they charge a flat fee of Rs 20 per trade of options. So what it means is if you buy 10 lots of NIFTY, the brokerage charged would be Rs 20. This is saving of almost 90% brokerage compared to full service broker.
So if you are an option trader, and you already don’t have a account with a discount broker, it is high time that you look at discount broker and choose the one which best fits your need. Keep in mind that a money saved is money earned.
The best brokerage for option trading in India are provided by Zerodha and Upstox. There are some discount broker who provide even lower brokerage than both of them but most are not very reliable. You can even get an unlimited trading plan for trading in option with some broker but reliability and usability remains an issue.
Another important aspect to keep in mind is the margin provided by your broker for trading in Options. If you are buying option, almost all the broker will take full premium in cash from you. If you are selling, the margin for each broker would be very different. Most of the broker provide for pledging of shares, which mean after a small haircut, you can use the rest as margin for selling option.
If you are concerned with how much margin would each broker provide, I would advise you to get in touch with the broker directly and understand margin requirements of the brokers.
To know more about the major broker in India, have a look at top 10 stock broker.
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