What a NEPSE Trade Really Costs: Commission, SEBON Fee and DP Charge
Buying 100 shares at Rs 500 does not cost Rs 50,000. It costs Rs 50,212.50. Selling them back at the same Rs 500 does not return Rs 50,000 either — it returns Rs 49,787.50. That Rs 425 gap is the price of the round trip, before any tax, and it is why a share that shows "+0.5%" in your portfolio can still be a loss. This guide explains each charge, works through the arithmetic at different trade sizes, and gives you a rule of thumb for how far a price has to move before a trade pays for itself.
The three charges on every trade
Every buy and every sell on NEPSE carries three costs on top of the value of the shares:
- Broker commission — a percentage of the transaction amount. The rates are set by regulation in slabs, so they are the same whichever broker you use.
- SEBON fee — 0.015% of the transaction amount, collected for the Securities Board of Nepal.
- DP charge — a flat fee from your depository participant, the bank or broker that keeps your DEMAT account. It is commonly Rs 25 per company per settlement day, but it is the one charge that can differ between DPs, so check your own.
When you sell at a profit, capital gains tax is withheld on top of these. That has its own guide: capital gains tax on NEPSE shares in 2026.
The commission slabs
The commission rate depends on the size of the transaction:
| Transaction amount | Commission |
|---|---|
| Up to Rs 2,500 | Rs 10 flat |
| Rs 2,501 – Rs 50,000 | 0.36% |
| Rs 50,001 – Rs 5,00,000 | 0.33% |
| Rs 5,00,001 – Rs 20,00,000 | 0.31% |
| Rs 20,00,001 – Rs 1,00,00,000 | 0.27% |
| Above Rs 1 crore | 0.24% |
One detail matters more than it looks: the rate of your slab applies to the whole amount, not just the part above each boundary. It does not work like income-tax bands. A Rs 60,000 purchase pays 0.33% on all Rs 60,000.
Worked examples at different sizes
Here is what buying costs at five common sizes, with the DP charge at Rs 25:
| Purchase | Commission | SEBON | DP | Total fees | Fees as % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rs 2,000 | Rs 10.00 | Rs 0.30 | Rs 25 | Rs 35.30 | 1.76% |
| Rs 10,000 | Rs 36.00 | Rs 1.50 | Rs 25 | Rs 62.50 | 0.62% |
| Rs 50,000 | Rs 180.00 | Rs 7.50 | Rs 25 | Rs 212.50 | 0.42% |
| Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 330.00 | Rs 15.00 | Rs 25 | Rs 370.00 | 0.37% |
| Rs 5,00,000 | Rs 1,650.00 | Rs 75.00 | Rs 25 | Rs 1,750.00 | 0.35% |
Two things stand out. First, small trades are expensive: on a Rs 2,000 purchase the minimum commission and the flat DP charge take 1.76% each way, so the round trip costs about 3.5% before the price has moved at all. Second, above Rs 50,000 the percentage hardly falls any more — the fees settle at roughly 0.35–0.4% a side.
The slab quirk: a slightly bigger order can cost less
Because the rate applies to the whole amount, crossing a boundary lowers the commission on everything. Buy shares worth exactly Rs 50,000 and the commission is Rs 180 (0.36%). Buy Rs 50,001 worth and it is Rs 165 (0.33%) — Rs 15 less for a bigger order, and Rs 14 less in total fees. The same thing happens at every boundary in the table. If an order lands just below a slab line, topping it up to cross the line can be cheaper — as long as you wanted the extra shares anyway.
The round trip: buying and selling back
Take 100 shares at Rs 500:
- Buying: Rs 50,000 + Rs 180 commission + Rs 7.50 SEBON fee + Rs 25 DP charge = Rs 50,212.50 paid.
- Selling at the same Rs 500: Rs 50,000 − Rs 180 − Rs 7.50 − Rs 25 = Rs 49,787.50 received.
The difference, Rs 425, is 0.85% of the amount. That is the hurdle a trade of this size must clear before it earns anything.
How far the price must rise to break even
For those 100 shares bought at Rs 500, the selling price that returns your full Rs 50,212.50 is about Rs 504.11, a rise of 0.82%. It is a little under 0.85% because a Rs 50,411 sale falls into the cheaper 0.33% slab. The same calculation at other sizes gives a useful rule of thumb:
| Bought (at Rs 500 a share) | Break-even selling price | Rise needed |
|---|---|---|
| 4 shares — Rs 2,000 | Rs 517.65 | +3.53% |
| 20 shares — Rs 10,000 | Rs 506.27 | +1.25% |
| 100 shares — Rs 50,000 | Rs 504.11 | +0.82% |
| 1,000 shares — Rs 5,00,000 | Rs 503.41 | +0.68% |
On a profitable sale capital gains tax is withheld as well, so the hurdle for a profit you actually keep is slightly higher again.
Why costs matter more than they seem
A price move is uncertain; the cost of trading is not. Someone who buys and sells every week has to earn about 0.85% a week just to stand still. NepseIQ's own research ran straight into this: a pattern that genuinely helped pick which shares would do better than average over the next week was worth about 0.7% a week — less than the cost of trading it (see what 15 years of NEPSE data say about prediction). The practical lessons:
- Avoid many small orders. The flat DP charge and the Rs 10 minimum punish them.
- The DP charge is per company per settlement day. Several purchases of the same company that settle on the same day share one charge; purchases on different days pay it each time.
- Judge a holding by its break-even price, not by the price you paid — the fees on both ends are part of the cost.
- Trading often is a cost in itself. Each round trip has to be earned back before any profit appears.
How NepseIQ uses these numbers
When you record a purchase in My Stocks, these fees are included, so your average cost lines up with Meroshare's WACC, and the break-even price shown for each holding already allows for the cost of selling. If your DP charges something other than Rs 25, enter the total fees from your contract note instead and NepseIQ will use those. For what WACC means and how to use it, see WACC in Meroshare and your real break-even price.
Rule of thumb: on trades of Rs 50,000 and more, allow about 0.85% for a round trip before tax. Below Rs 10,000 the fixed charges make trading disproportionately expensive. These are the rates published as of October 2026 — your contract note is always the final word.
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