How do I transfer shares from one demat account to another?

You transfer shares between demat accounts by submitting a Delivery Instruction Slip (DIS) to your current broker, or by using the online transfer facility offered by NSDL or CDSL. The receiving account details go on the slip, and the depository moves the shares.

Here is how it usually works. You need the 16-character target demat ID (for CDSL it is all numbers; for NSDL it starts with “IN”), the ISIN of each stock, and the quantity. You fill the DIS, sign it as per your account signature, and submit it to your old broker. Many people now use CDSL’s easiest or NSDL’s SPEED-e for online transfers.

Say you have 200 shares of a hypothetical company sitting with a broker you no longer use. You open a new account, then transfer those 200 shares across. Your holding period continues, but keep the original purchase contract notes because the new broker will not know your buy price for tax calculations.

A frequent mistake: transferring between two accounts in different names. Transfers to someone else’s account can be treated as a gift or off-market deal, so speak to a CA before doing that.

Small operational details like this are part of the market basics module in our stock market diploma course.