What is the first step after opening a demat account?

Before you buy anything, spend a little time setting up the account properly and learning how it works. The first trade can wait a week or two.

• Log in to both your trading app and the depository’s own system (CDSL or NSDL) so you can see your holdings independently of the broker.
• Add nominees. You can now add up to 10 nominees per demat account, and this saves your family a lot of trouble later.
• Turn on two-factor login, check your linked bank account and set daily alerts for transactions.
• Read the broker’s charges page carefully: brokerage, DP charges on selling, and any annual maintenance fee.
• Place one small test order, maybe a single share of a large company, and watch it settle. Under T+1, it should appear in your demat the next working day.

Then pause. Write down your goal for the account, how much you will add each month and what you will not do, for example no F&O for the first year.

A common slip: new account holders activate F&O segments on day one because the form offers it. You don’t have to. Our Diploma in Stock Market walks you through all of this before you put serious money in. For the basics of the two accounts, see our post on demat vs trading accounts.