If the coupon is 9%, do I earn 9%? (YTM vs coupon)

3 numbers get mixed up on bond apps: the coupon, the current yield and the yield to maturity (YTM).

What is the difference?

Measure	What it is	9% coupon bought at ₹1,020, 3 years left
Coupon	Interest paid each year on face value	₹90 a year on ₹1,000 face value
Current yield	Coupon ÷ price paid	8.82%
YTM	The single annual rate at which all future coupons plus the ₹1,000 repayment equal the price you pay today	About 8.22%

Bought at ₹980 instead, the same bond has a current yield of 9.18% and a YTM of about 9.80%, because you also gain ₹20 at maturity. YTM assumes you hold to maturity and the issuer pays in full. SEBI requires bond platforms to show both current yield and YTM, with how they were calculated (SEBI NCS Master Circular). The difference matters: Wint told NSE in Feb 2023 that the exchange RFQ platform displayed current yield rather than YTM, which it said could mislead retail investors (SEBI order).

Is a bond priced above face value overpriced?

Not by itself. A TradingQnA thread asked whether 7.33% GS 2026 was overpriced at ₹105.77 (TradingQnA). A price above face value only means the coupon is higher than current market yields; the YTM already nets out the premium you give up at maturity. Compare YTMs, not prices. Also check whether a price is clean or dirty: exchange order book prices include accrued interest and RFQ prices do not (NSE RFQ), so the same bond can look dearer on one screen. See clean price vs dirty price.

Why can a yield look higher than what I earn?

Many platform bonds repay principal in instalments, and their yield is still a correct YTM. YTM is a correct annual rate on the money still invested, but your rupee interest is lower because the balance shrinks. Put ₹1 lakh into a 2 year bond at a 10% YTM that returns half the principal after year 1: you receive ₹60,000 after year 1 and ₹55,000 after year 2, so total interest is ₹15,000, against ₹20,000 from a 10% bond that repays all principal at maturity. TradingQnA users make the same point about short, part-amortising platform bonds (TradingQnA), which is that user's estimate.

How do zero coupon bonds fit in?

A zero coupon bond pays nothing until maturity and then a fixed redemption amount, so YTM is the only yield that matters. In 2025 a TradingQnA user read a 2 year zero coupon bond as paying ₹1,000 plus ₹1,210; the ₹1,210 was the total redemption (TradingQnA). In the same thread, Paytm Money displayed a yield above 31% for an SMC Global zero coupon bond even though it had traded on BSE at about ₹1,300, above its ₹1,210 redemption value, which implies a negative YTM for that buyer.

Why does the same bond show a different yield on 2 apps?

2 reasons: each platform sets its own sale price with a spread it does not disclose, and some screens show clean prices and others dirty. See same bond, different yield.