Can You Earn a Living from Day Trading or F&O?
क्या डे ट्रेडिंग से कमाई हो सकती है?
Buying and selling shares or options within the day, hoping to live off the difference. The market regulator's own studies show that about nine in ten individuals lose money doing it.
The short answer
No, not as a way to earn a living, and certainly not for someone starting with no money. SEBI studied the accounts of about a crore individual traders: 93% lost money in futures and options over three years, and only about 1 in 100 made more than ₹1 lakh after costs. Trading needs capital you can afford to lose. If you have none, it has nothing to offer you except debt.
Day trading means buying and selling a share on the same day. Futures and options (F&O) are contracts whose price moves many times faster than the share itself, which is why they are sold online as a way to turn a small sum into a large one. The same speed works against you. Every trade also carries brokerage, exchange charges and taxes, which are paid whether you win or lose. On the other side of your trade are trading firms and foreign funds using computers, research teams and far more money. Courses, Telegram channels and 'finfluencers' earn from fees and referrals, not from the profits they show in screenshots. The figures below are not opinions: they come from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which examined traders' actual accounts.
What it takes
- Age 18 or above.
- A trading and demat account with a SEBI-registered broker, which needs PAN, Aadhaar and a bank account.
- Capital that you can lose completely without touching rent, fees, family savings or borrowed money.
- Hours in front of the screen every market day.
- An understanding of how margin and options pricing work, and of how trading profits and losses are taxed.
| Before you start | Cost |
|---|---|
| Trading capitalWhatever you put in. In SEBI's study the average individual lost about ₹2 lakh over three years. | Ask first |
| Brokerage, exchange charges and taxes on every tradePaid on winning and losing trades alike. | Ask first |
| Courses, tips and paid groupsNot required, and often where the real loss begins. | Ask first |
How the money works
Nobody pays you. Your gain is another trader's loss, less the charges both of you pay. A profit on one day is not income until it survives the losing days, the brokerage and the tax. Over a year, for most individuals, it does not.
- Costs are certain and profits are not. SEBI found that intraday loss-makers spent a further 57% of their trading losses on transaction costs.
- Trading more makes it worse: the share of loss-makers was higher among the most frequent traders.
- The profits in F&O were made largely by proprietary trading firms and foreign investors, not by individuals.
- Long-term investing in shares or mutual funds is a different activity and is not what these studies measured. It is also not an income, and it needs savings first.
What the numbers say
We do not estimate earnings ourselves. Each line below is someone else's figure, with who said it and when.
93% of individual traders lost money in equity futures and options between FY22 and FY24. Their combined losses were more than ₹1.8 lakh crore over the three years.
Government or regulatorSEBI press release, 23 Sept 2024 · SEBI: updated study on individual traders in equity F&O
The loss-makers, about a crore people, lost around ₹2 lakh each on average including costs. Only about 1% of individual traders made a profit above ₹1 lakh after costs.
Government or regulatorSEBI study, Sept 2024 · Taxmann summary of the SEBI study
More than 75% of loss-making traders kept trading after consecutive years of losses. Over 75% of individual F&O traders had declared an annual income below ₹5 lakh, and the share of traders under 30 rose from 31% to 43% in a year.
Government or regulatorSEBI study, Sept 2024 · Moneylife report on the SEBI study
In FY25, 91% of individual traders again made a net loss in equity derivatives. Their net losses rose 41% to ₹1,05,603 crore, about ₹1.1 lakh a person.
Government or regulatorSEBI study, 7 July 2025 · The Week (PTI): 91% of individual traders lose money in equity derivatives in FY25
In ordinary intraday share trading, without F&O, 71% of individuals lost money in FY23. Among those who made more than 500 trades in the year, 80% lost.
Government or regulatorSEBI study, July 2024 · Business Standard: 7 in 10 intraday traders in equity cash suffered losses in FY23
What we could not find
- Any official study showing that individuals earn a steady income from day trading.
- A SEBI study for FY26. The latest we found covers FY25.
Is it legal where you live?
All India
Trading through a SEBI-registered broker is legal. Giving investment advice or selling trading tips for a fee needs SEBI registration, and guaranteed-return claims are not allowed. 'Dabba trading' outside the exchanges, and most apps offering trades in rupees on foreign currency pairs or 'binary options', are illegal, and money lost there cannot be recovered through any regulator.
As of Oct 2026
What to do
- Read the SEBI findings above before opening an account, and assume you are in the nine out of ten, not the one.
- Never trade with borrowed money, a credit card, a personal loan app, or money meant for rent, fees or the household.
- If you want to understand the market, begin with a small monthly investment in an index mutual fund once you have a steady income. That is saving, not earning.
- If you still wish to trade, fix a sum you can lose entirely, write down the amount at which you will stop for good, and stay out of options until you have traded shares for a year.
- Open an account only with a SEBI-registered broker, directly on its own website or app, and never share your login or OTP with anyone offering to 'manage' it.
- Add up your result once a month after all charges. If it is negative after six months, stop.
What is good about it
- It is legal, and an account costs little to open.
- Learning how markets work is useful for long-term saving.
- A very small number of full-time, well-capitalised traders do make money.
What is hard about it
- About nine in ten individuals lose, year after year, in the regulator's own data.
- It needs capital, so it does not help a person with no money. Borrowed capital turns a loss into debt.
- Costs and taxes are paid on every trade, win or lose.
- Losses come faster than in any other activity on this site: a month's wages can go in minutes.
- It is habit-forming. Most loss-makers in SEBI's study kept trading.
- No skill from it is paid for by an employer, unlike a trade or a certificate.
Traps to avoid
- Telegram and WhatsApp groups that show profit screenshots and sell tips or 'sure-shot calls'. Screenshots are easy to fake, and unregistered advice is illegal.
- People offering to trade your account for a share of profits, or asking for your login. Losses stay with you.
- Fake trading apps and websites that show growing profits and then demand a 'tax' or fee before you can withdraw.
- Courses that promise a monthly income from trading. The seller's income is the course fee.
- Colour-prediction games, betting apps and 'binary options' dressed up as trading. They are gambling, and mostly illegal.
Steadier ways to earn
- Paid apprenticeshipA fixed stipend with nothing to lose.
- All ways to earn without capitalWork that pays for your time instead of risking your money.
- SEBI Grade A OfficerIf the markets interest you, this is the salaried job at the regulator.
- Government jobsFixed pay, with the in-hand salary worked out for your city.
Questions people ask
Can day trading make you money?
A few people do make money, but SEBI's studies of real accounts show that 71% of individual intraday traders lost money in FY23 and 91% to 93% lost in futures and options in recent years. Only about 1% made more than ₹1 lakh after costs over three years. It is not a dependable income.
Can I start trading with ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 and grow it?
You can open an account with a small sum, but charges take a larger bite out of small trades, and options sold as 'cheap' usually expire worthless. A small amount is far more likely to be lost than multiplied.
Is F&O trading the same as investing in the share market?
No. Investing means buying shares or mutual fund units and holding them for years. F&O and intraday trading are short-term bets on price movement, with borrowed exposure and high costs. SEBI's loss figures are about trading, not long-term investing.
Why do most traders lose money?
They pay costs on every trade, they trade against firms with more capital, speed and information, and options lose value with every passing day. SEBI found that the profits in F&O went largely to proprietary trading firms and foreign investors.
Are paid trading tips and Telegram groups legal?
Only a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst may give advice for a fee, and no one may promise assured returns. You can check a registration number on the SEBI website. Most tip groups are unregistered.
Sources
- SEBI press release: 93% of individual traders incurred losses in equity F&O, FY22 to FY24
- Taxmann: summary of the SEBI F&O study
- Moneylife: 93% of individual traders lost ₹1.8 lakh crore in equity F&O
- The Week (PTI): SEBI derivatives study for FY25
- Business Standard: SEBI study on intraday traders in FY23
Pay rates, fees and rules change often and differ by city. Confirm them with the company or the regulator before you commit money or leave other work.
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