Where to buy G-secs and T-bills without paying a fee

Options that meet these criteria

Listed alphabetically. This is not a ranking.

Fyers Broker app

Fyers support says it charges no brokerage or commission for applying to G-secs, T-bills or SDLs. Selling before maturity costs ₹20 or 0.3% of the trade, whichever is lower, plus DP charges.

RBI Retail Direct Government channel

RBI charges nothing to open or keep the gilt account and no fee on primary bids; you pay only payment gateway charges. T-bill auto-bidding has been available since 6th Aug 2025.

Zerodha Broker app

Zerodha waived its 0.06% bid fee from 1st Mar 2024, and STT does not apply to G-secs or T-bills. Securities land in your Zerodha demat, and a DP charge applies when you sell.

How a non-competitive bid works

Retail bids in RBI's auctions go into the non-competitive segment: you state an amount, not a price, and are allotted at the weighted average price of the auction, so you learn your yield after the auction. NSE pools bids from brokers and from its goBID portal and submits a single bid to RBI. For dated GoI securities, brokers accept bids from ₹10,000 face value up to ₹2 crore per security per auction, and 5% of each T-bill issue is reserved for non-competitive bids.

What each channel charges

Channel	Fee on a primary bid	Where the securities sit
RBI Retail Direct	None; payment gateway charges only	Gilt account with RBI
Zerodha	None since 1st Mar 2024	Your demat
Fyers	None	Your demat
Upstox	0.06% of allotment plus 18% GST, and a ₹20 plus GST DP fee	Your demat
HDFC Securities	0.06% (6 paise per ₹100)	Your demat
NSE goBID	Not confirmed; the app was suspended from 30th Jul 2025 and the web portal continues	Your demat

On a ₹1 lakh bid, 0.06% plus GST comes to about ₹71. Kotak Neo, Angel One, Dhan, 5paisa, Paytm Money and ICICI Direct did not publish a bid fee on the pages read.

When bids close

Each broker sets its own cut-offs. Fyers published these on 24th Sep 2026: G-sec bids from Tuesday 10:00 to Thursday 16:00, with the auction on Friday and settlement on Monday; T-bill bids from Monday 10:00 to Tuesday 17:00, auction Wednesday, settlement Thursday; SDL bids on Monday from 10:00 to 17:00, auction Tuesday, settlement Wednesday.

Buying an existing G-sec instead

If you buy a G-sec or SDL that is already trading on NSE's cash segment, the price you pay includes accrued interest under NSE circular NSE/CMTR/39581. On NDS-OM, which Retail Direct uses for secondary trades, prices are matched clean and settled with accrued interest added.

SGBs and Floating Rate Savings Bonds

No new SGB tranche has been issued since Feb 2024, so SGBs can only be bought in the secondary market: on the exchange through a broker, or on NDS-OM through Retail Direct. RBI Floating Rate Savings Bonds are not auctioned; they are sold through agency banks and ICICI Direct, as set out on the Floating Rate Savings Bonds page.

Questions people ask

Is RBI Retail Direct free to use?

Yes. RBI charges nothing to open or maintain the account and no fee on primary bids. The investor pays payment gateway charges.

What yield do I get on a non-competitive T-bill bid?

You are allotted at the weighted average price of the auction, so your yield is the auction's weighted average yield, known only after the auction.

Which brokers charge for G-sec bids?

Upstox charges 0.06% of the allotment plus GST and a DP fee, and HDFC Securities charges 0.06%. Several other brokers do not publish a figure.