How to close Demat account?

A Demat Account or Dematerialised Account provides the facility of holding shares and securities electronically. During online trading of shares or other securities, you can buy and store them in a Demat Account. This way, it helps you facilitate trade with ease. A Demat Account holds all the investments you have in shares, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF), government securities, corporate bonds, and mutual funds in one place.

In India, National Securities Depositories Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depositories Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) provide depository services. Intermediaries, depository participants, or stockbrokers facilitate these services for you as an investor.

How to close my demat account?

There are two different sorts of Demat account closures that you should be aware of before closing your Demat account online or offline:

Basic Account Closure: Account holders can close their Demat when there are no holdings, pending payments, or charges. All they have to do is submit a request to the appropriate depository participant. This may be done online and is frequently met with a prompt answer, making the total procedure hassle-free.

Transfer and Account Closure: If you still have securities, or charges payable in your demat account, things could get tricky. Before the account in question may be effectively closed, this calls for transferring the pertinent information to another Demat account, which frequently entails several additional processes.

Demat Account Assessment Checklist

It is crucial to review and examine your account and make sure it conforms with the following criteria before starting the closure process or even choosing the best course of action for the same:    

1. Verify that your account does not have any debit balances; if there are, they must be withdrawn or transferred before continuing.
2. The aforementioned Demat account should not be connected to any active SIPs, mutual funds, or bond investments. If there is, a transfer and closure request rather than a straightforward one-step closure request would be appropriate.
3. Verify that there is no balance. Before the account can be terminated, any negative balance that results from settlements or broker fees must be paid.
4. All open positions, including stock holdings, option positions, and futures contracts, should be closed at the scheduled closing time. Any such positions ought to be either squared off or, if you want to keep them, moved to another Demat account.
5. Ensure that any inactive ISINs—International Securities Identification Numbers—for shares of a firm that are no longer traded are dematerialized.

If your account contains any of these shares, you must tell the relevant depository partner right once so that they can be dematerialized before the account is closed.

Closing Demat account in case of Account closure

1. Visit the website of your depository participant (bank or investment firm) to download the Demat account closure form.
2. Then accurately complete the form and submit it along with your KYC documentation. Verify the validity of each of the proofs. This stage entails either delivering the paperwork to the nearby DP office or mailing it to the appropriate head office.
3. If you share the account, all the parties must sign the closure form in front of the DP representative.
4. Make sure the account does not hold any shares and has no negative balance. Logging into your account will allow you to verify this.

Closing Demat account in case of transfer

1. For intra-depository transfers, you will need an Intra DIS slip and to choose the ‘Off-Market transfer’ option in your Demat account.
2. Then it is necessary to obtain the original client master list (CML) from the account, which includes the stamp, logo, and signatures.
3. The form filled must then be submitted, including all pertinent information and the names and ISINs of the shares you desire to transfer. Further information will be required along with the target client’s ID.
4. After this, you must deliver the paperwork in person to your DP’s office or mail them to their corporate headquarters.
5. A bank representative will verify the self-attested Demat closure form before closure.  

Have you ever wondered what you would do when you have multiple Demat accounts, and you want to know how to close icici direct account online or all of them because you are no more interested in investing in the securities market?

• When you want to close your Demat account, you have to visit the Depository Participant's office and have to submit a Demat account closure form and the necessary documents along with it.
• You can also download this form from the website of the Depository Participant.

You need to mention the following details along with the Demat account closure form:

1.  DP ID and Client ID
2.  Details such as your name and address – you must remember that the details provided by you on the Demat closure form should match the records available with NSDL or CDSL as the case may be.
3. Reason for closing the account (You may want to close the account voluntarily or due to unavoidable circumstances like the death of the account holder or insanity of the account holder, and so on).

• You have to sign the form at the appropriate places. If you have a joint account, you must remember that all the holders must sign the closure request form.
• However, the Power of Attorney (POA) holder cannot sign the closure request form.
• The entire procedure to close the account takes around 7-10 business days after submitting the account closure form.
• You don't have to pay any charges to the depository at the time of closing the account.
• However, it would be best if you kept in mind that the Demat account closure is subject to the condition that there should be no dues pending for the account from your side.