Partner Program Review

Here is a number that surprises most people: at its peak, half of every new account at Zerodha came from someone simply telling a friend about it. Word of mouth built the largest broker in India. Which raises an obvious question — if referrals are that valuable, why should the broker keep all the brokerage?

That is the entire logic of a stock broker partner program. You bring clients to a broker; the broker shares the brokerage those clients generate — anywhere from 10% for a casual referrer to 70% for a full-scale Authorised Person running a franchise.

Some partners earn pocket money from referrals. Others, with 500+ active clients, run businesses making lakhs a month. Angel One alone has more than 11,000 authorised persons; Motilal Oswal’s partner network crosses 8,000.

But this industry also has a history of fine print. Brokerage programs have been suddenly discontinued, monthly targets have been quietly introduced, and the 2024 exchange rules killed unregistered referral payouts overnight.

In June 2026, Zerodha revived its famous 10% referral share — with conditions attached. Understanding how these programs actually work, what they realistically pay, and what SEBI now requires is the difference between building a business and chasing a moving target.

This guide reviews India’s stock broker partner programs honestly — the types of partnership, the rules that govern them, program-by-program reviews, realistic earnings math, and exactly how to register.

What Is a Stock Broker Partner Program?

A stock broker partner program is an arrangement where a SEBI-registered stockbroker pays you a share of the brokerage generated by clients you bring to them.

The broker provides the brand, the trading platform, the technology, compliance, and client servicing infrastructure. You provide the clients. The revenue is split.

Think of it like a franchise without the franchise fee (in many cases). You never need the roughly Rs 1 crore+ needed to become a broker yourself, no exchange memberships, no SEBI broker registration — you operate under an existing broker’s licence.

That is why the partner route is sometimes called the poor man’s broking business.

The legal umbrella term today is Authorised Person (AP) — SEBI abolished the old “sub-broker” category back in 2018, though everyone (including most brokers) still uses “sub-broker” conversationally.

An AP is registered with the exchanges through the broker, operates in specific segments (equity, F&O, currency, commodity), and can only be paid by the broker — never directly by clients.

The Four Ways to Earn With a Broker

Not all “partnerships” are the same. There are four distinct models, with very different commitments and payouts:

• Client Referral (the lightest touch): You share a link; the broker services the client. Zerodha’s referral program pays 10% of the referred client’s brokerage plus 300 reward points per account. Angel One’s Remisier program pays a flat 25% of brokerage for the client’s entire lifetime. No registration beyond a basic agreement, no servicing duty — but no real business either. This is pocket money, and SEBI rules now restrict what unregistered referrers can do.
• Referral Agent (digital middle ground): Upstox’s Referral Agent program is the best example — fully online onboarding, roughly 40% brokerage share plus account-opening incentives of Rs 400-1,200 per activated user. No exchange registration required.
• Authorised Person (the real business): Registered with NSE/BSE through the broker. You onboard clients, service them, and earn slab-based revenue share — 20-70% depending on broker and volume. This is what most people mean by a partner program today.
• Franchise / full AP office (the heavy model): A physical office, security deposit of Rs 50,000-5,00,000, and the highest revenue tiers at full-service brokers like Motilal Oswal, IIFL, and Sharekhan — plus cross-sell income from mutual funds (about 1% trail), IPOs (Rs 100-500 per application), insurance, and PMS referrals.

One more distinction that trips people up: a referral program pays you for introductions, while an AP program makes you a client-facing business.

APs can help clients open accounts and access services — but under SEBI rules, an AP cannot charge clients anything, cannot hold client funds, and cannot offer investment advice unless separately registered.

If you want to advise, that is a different licence entirely — see our mutual fund distributor guide for the advisory side of the industry.

SEBI Rules You Must Know Before Signing Anything

Three regulatory milestones shape every partner program in 2026:

• 2018 — sub-brokers became Authorised Persons: SEBI recategorised the industry. Same business, new name — but it matters on every form you sign.
• August 2024 — the referral crackdown: An exchange circular prohibited brokers from paying referral commissions to anyone not registered as an AP. Overnight, unregistered referral payouts stopped — Zerodha suspended its famous 10% program in August 2024, paying only reward points, until regulations caught up.
• June 2026 — referral payouts return (with strings): Zerodha relaunched its 10% brokerage share, now conditioned on adding at least three new referrals every 12 months to keep earning on older ones. The lesson: partner terms can change with regulation — read every update.

What the 2026 Regulatory Framework Means for You

• Eligibility is tightening: The proposed framework requires 12th pass with 2 years of securities-market experience (or equivalent), and mandates NISM Series VII (Securities Operations and Risk Management) certification within 6 months of registration. Many brokers already demand NISM Series VIII (Equity Derivatives).
• Net worth and deposits are rising: The proposed rules set minimum net worth at Rs 5 lakh for individual APs and Rs 25 lakh for firms, plus a minimum Rs 1 lakh deposit with the broker. Today, discount brokers still offer zero-deposit entry — that window may close.
• One broker per segment: You cannot be an AP for two brokers in the same segment. Choose your partner carefully — you can only split across segments (say, equity with one broker, currency with another).
• Money rules are absolute: An AP receives remuneration only from the broker, cannot charge clients, cannot touch client funds or securities, and all documents go out in the broker’s name. HUFs are not permitted as APs.

For the deeper regulatory picture on trading itself, see our SEBI new rules for algo and F&O trading guide.

Zerodha Partner Program Review — Best Zero-Capital Start

Zerodha runs two distinct things, and mixing them up causes confusion: the Partner Program (registering as an AP on the exchanges under Zerodha) and the Referral Program (a client-side feature revived on June 1, 2026).

The Partner Program (AP Route)

• Revenue share: 20% entry slab, 30% mid, 40% top slab (top requires roughly Rs 2 lakh+ monthly brokerage generated).
• Deposit: Rs 0 — you pay only registration costs of roughly Rs 1,000-11,000. No office required; activation in 3-7 days.
• The catch: As the biggest broker, Zerodha’s account-opening funnel is nearly saturated — clients who need a Zerodha account have mostly opened one. Your pipeline is genuinely new-to-market investors.

The Revived Referral Program

• Payout: 10% of brokerage from referred clients plus 300 reward points (redeemable against subscriptions and AMC). Conditions: referred accounts must open within 60 days; and to keep earning on pre-June-2026 referrals, you must add at least three new referrals every 12 months.
• Constraints: No paid advertising of referral links on Google, Facebook, or other platforms; minimum payout thresholds apply; 5% TDS on withdrawals.

Verdict: 8.5/10. The AP route is the cheapest serious entry into the business in India — zero deposit, work from home, the strongest consumer brand. The referral program is honest pocket money. For the broker itself, see our full Zerodha review.

Angel One Partner Review — The Volume Leader

Angel One is the partner-program heavyweight: over 11,000 authorised persons, a digital-first AP onboarding stack, and a tiered system (Silver to Elite) with campaign incentives on top.

Real-world revenue share runs 30-50% by slab (marketing headlines say up to 70% at top tiers), with a deposit of Rs 50,000-3,00,000 and office verification for full APs.

The Remisier Option — Underrated

Angel One also runs a Remisier program that most people overlook: a flat 25% of the total brokerage for the lifetime of every client you refer, with zero capital investment, no training, no servicing duty, and app-based tracking of your clients’ activity.

For someone with a strong network but no ambition to service clients, lifetime 25% with no overheads is quietly one of the best deals in the industry.

Verdict: 9/10 for aspiring full-time partners — the largest AP network, genuinely useful training and marketing support, and a ladder from Silver to Elite. Our Angel One review covers the broker’s platform in detail.

Upstox Partner Review — Three Doors, One Dashboard

Upstox offers three partnership models: the Authorised Partner Program (exchange-registered AP; 30-50% brokerage share), the Referral Agent Program (fully paperless online signup; roughly 40% share plus account-opening incentives of Rs 400-1,200 per user), and the invite-only Partner Up Program — where you earn from clients referred by partners you introduced.

The Numbers That Matter

• Payouts: Brokerage income is credited on or after the 7th of every month; referral rewards by the 25th.
• Costs people miss: Exchange fees — NSE AP registration about Rs 5,900, BSE about Rs 4,720, MCX about Rs 2,360 (all including GST) — plus quarterly maintenance charges (NSE Rs 5,000, BSE Rs 4,000, MCX Rs 1,000 per quarter). Budget these before projecting profits.
• A word of caution: Upstox has, like others, adjusted program terms over time — partners have reported targets and discontinuations. Treat any partner business as one where the operator can change the rules; diversify your client relationships accordingly.

Verdict: 8/10. The Referral Agent program is the best fully-digital middle ground in India. Our Upstox review has the platform details.

5paisa Partner Program Review — The Aggressive Challenger

5paisa has pushed the most aggressive headline offer in the industry: 100% brokerage share for your first 3 months, up to 60% lifetime, zero registration fees (limited period), fully digital onboarding, and a real-time partner dashboard.

Eligible partners explicitly include influencers, algo/API traders, freelancers, and mutual fund distributors.

The context matters: 5paisa charges a flat Rs 20 per order, so 60% of that flat fee per order is your unit of earnings. One F&O-active client placing 100 orders a month generates Rs 2,000 of brokerage — of which Rs 1,200 is yours at the lifetime rate.

A handful of active traders can outweigh dozens of passive investors.

Verdict: 8/10. Best headline economics for self-starters and creators — just model your expected income on flat-fee brokerage, not on percentages of nothing.

Full-Service Franchise Programs — Motilal Oswal, IIFL, Sharekhan, ICICI Direct, SMC Global

The traditional route — an office, a deposit, and a full-service broker’s product shelf — still pays the highest percentages:

Why choose full-service despite the capital and office requirements? Cross-sell. At full-service brokers, mature partners earn as much from mutual fund trail (about 1%), IPO applications (Rs 100-500 each), insurance, PMS referrals, and loans against shares as they do from equity brokerage — often doubling effective payout per client.

That is how 500-client businesses reach Rs 5-10 lakh months. The trade-offs: Rs 1.5-10 lakh total setup, physical verification, and payouts that realistically cluster at 40-50% despite the 60-70% marketing headlines.

Full reviews of each broker’s platform are on our stock broker reviews page, and the brokers your clients actually trade on matter too — point them to our best trading app guide when they ask.

How Much Can You Actually Earn? The Honest Math

Every program’s marketing shows the top slab. Here is what the numbers look like when you model them on realistic client behaviour:

Three truths behind this table: first, averages hide everything — one F&O-active client can generate 3-10 times the brokerage of ten delivery-only investors.

Second, dormant clients pay nothing; this business monetises activity, not account counts. Third, cross-sell (MF trail, IPO, insurance) is where mature partners at full-service brokers double their income — the full breakdown by stage is in the Excel file.

One more thing the brochures skip: partner income is taxed as business income at your slab rate, payouts attract TDS (Zerodha deducts 5%), GST registration becomes mandatory once turnover crosses Rs 20 lakh, and most partners operate as sole proprietors. Budget for a CA. Our stock market tax rules guide covers the client side; your side needs professional advice.

How to Register — Step by Step

• Step 1 — Choose your model: Referral (Rs 0, no business), Referral Agent (digital), AP with a discount broker (Rs 10-15K all-in), or full-service franchise (Rs 1.5-10 lakh). Match the model to your capital, network, and whether you want to service clients.
• Step 2 — Verify eligibility: 18+ (21+ preferred), 10th/12th pass minimum (graduate for most full-service brokers), Indian citizen, no fraud convictions, no SEBI debarment, not bankrupt. HUFs cannot register.
• Step 3 — Complete NISM certification: Series VIII (Equity Derivatives) for most programs today; Series VII (SORM) under the new framework. Online exam, roughly Rs 1,500, about a week of preparation. Some brokers let you start and certify within 6 months.
• Step 4 — Submit the application: PAN, Aadhaar, address proof, education certificates, 6-month bank statement, 2 years of ITRs, photos, cancelled cheque. Full-service brokers add office address proof and sometimes CIBIL checks. You never deal with SEBI directly — the broker files everything.
• Step 5 — Pay the costs: Exchange fees: NSE about Rs 5,000 per segment plus GST, BSE about Rs 4,000, MCX about Rs 2,360 — plus annual maintenance of about Rs 5,000. Deposits as per the table above. Total: Rs 5,000-11,000 for zero-deposit brokers.
• Step 6 — Exchange approval and AP code: NSE/BSE review the broker’s application (7-14 working days) and issue your unique AP code — your identifier on every client you onboard, in every segment you registered for.
• Step 7 — Go live: Get your partner dashboard, referral links, and marketing collateral. Onboard your first client. Payouts typically arrive between the 7th and 25th of the following month.

Before onboarding clients, make sure your own account is with a broker you genuinely rate — clients will ask you why you chose it. Our best demat account guide is a good place to refresh your own reasoning.

How to Choose the Right Program — A Decision Framework

• No capital, no servicing, just a network? Angel One Remisier (lifetime 25%, zero investment) or the Zerodha referral (10% + rewards).
• Want a digital side business? Upstox Referral Agent or 5paisa Partner — fully online, no office, decent slabs plus account-opening incentives.
• Building a serious home business? Zerodha AP (Rs 0 deposit) or Angel One AP (bigger network and support).
• Have an office and Rs 1-5 lakh? Motilal Oswal, IIFL, Sharekhan, or SMC Global — highest tiers, cross-sell shelf, branch support.
• Already an MFD or insurance agent? A full-service AP doubles your income per client through cross-sell. See also our mutual fund distributor guide and insurance agent resources.
• Evaluate on these five factors: revenue share at the slab you will realistically hit (not the marketing top slab), total cost including deposits and exchange fees, platform quality your clients will experience, dashboard and payout reliability, and the broker’s cross-sell product range.

Risks and Mistakes to Avoid

• Terms can change overnight: The 2024 referral ban and the 2026 relaunch prove it. Programs have been discontinued and targets introduced. Build relationships with your clients that survive a program change.
• Believing advertised top slabs: “Up to 70%” lives in the fine print of elite tiers needing Rs 3-5 lakh+ monthly brokerage. Most partners live between entry and mid slabs. Model on that.
• Ignoring the difference between accounts and activity: A thousand dormant referrals pay zero. A hundred active traders pay a salary. Focus on activation, not acquisition vanity numbers.
• Overlooking compliance: You cannot charge clients, hold funds, or give investment advice as an AP. Mis-selling under the new framework puts your registration — and the broker’s licence — at risk.
• One income stream: Partners who only earn equity brokerage are exposed; those who cross-sell MFs, IPOs, and insurance build resilient income. Our SIP and mutual fund investing guide is a good starting point for understanding what you are distributing.
• Underestimating churn: Retail clients open accounts, trade enthusiastically for a quarter, and go quiet. Income projections must account for decay — a 100-client base is not static.

Partner Program FAQs

What is the difference between a sub-broker and an Authorised Person?

Nothing, functionally. SEBI abolished the sub-broker category in 2018 and moved everyone to the Authorised Person framework. The business model — earning a share of brokerage from clients you bring to a broker — is identical. Forms and regulations now say AP.

Can I earn referral commissions without registering as an AP?

Not as an ongoing brokerage share. The August 2024 exchange rules prohibit brokers from paying brokerage-linked commissions to unregistered individuals. Pure one-time referral fees for simple introductions (without advice or servicing) remain possible, but the broker must ensure you do not pitch stocks or manage portfolios. For anything recurring, AP registration is the compliant route.

How much money do I need to start?

As little as Rs 10,000-15,000 all-in with a zero-deposit discount broker (Zerodha AP or Upstox Referral Agent) — covering registration costs, NISM, and first-month expenses. Full-service franchises need Rs 1.5-10 lakh including deposit and office setup.

Do I need an office?

Not with discount brokers — Zerodha, 5paisa, and Upstox programs run on digital onboarding from home. Full-service brokers require a registered office for exchange verification, though a one-room setup qualifies.

Is NISM certification mandatory?

Increasingly, yes. Most brokers require NISM Series VIII (Equity Derivatives) before activation, and the 2026 framework mandates Series VII (Securities Operations and Risk Management) within 6 months of AP registration. The exam costs about Rs 1,500 and can be cleared in a week of study.

Can I be a partner for two brokers at once?

Not in the same segment. You can hold an AP for one broker in equity and another broker in, say, currency or commodity — but one broker per segment. Choose your primary partner accordingly.

Can NRIs become partners?

Some brokers do not accept NRI partners — confirm before applying. The programs are designed for Indian residents servicing Indian clients. NRIs interested in the market itself should see our NRI account reviews.

How and when do payouts arrive?

Monthly. Upstox pays brokerage income on or after the 7th, referral rewards by the 25th; Angel One and most others follow similar monthly cycles into your registered bank account, with TDS deducted and reported.

Is partner income taxable?

Yes — as business income at your slab rate, with TDS on payouts and GST registration required once turnover crosses Rs 20 lakh. Most partners operate as sole proprietors; a CA is worth the fee.

Can I do this part-time?

Yes. SEBI imposes no full-time requirement as long as clients are serviced responsibly. The referral and Referral Agent models are explicitly part-time friendly — many partners start alongside a job before going full-time.

Key Takeaways

• A partner program pays you a share of brokerage (10-70%) from clients you bring to a broker — from passive referral pocket money to a multi-lakh franchise business.
• Sub-broker is now Authorised Person — same business, new regulatory name since 2018. Four models exist: referral, referral agent, AP, and full franchise.
• Zerodha Partner Program (8.5/10) is the cheapest serious entry: Rs 0 deposit, 20-40% slabs, work from home. Its 10% referral program returned in June 2026 with a 3-referrals-per-year condition.
• Angel One (9/10 for partners) runs the largest AP network with genuine training and tiered support — and its Remisier program offers lifetime 25% with zero capital and zero servicing.
• Upstox and 5paisa offer the best fully-digital programs: the Referral Agent route and the 100%-for-3-months challenger offer respectively. Budget the hidden exchange and maintenance fees.
• Full-service franchises (Motilal Oswal, IIFL, Sharekhan, SMC Global) pay the highest tiers (50-70% advertised, 40-50% realistic) — and cross-sell income often doubles the payout.
• Realistic earnings: Rs 3,000-15,000/month at 10-30 active clients; Rs 25,000-50,000 at 60-100; lakhs only at 250+ clients with cross-sell. Activity pays, not account counts.
• The 2024 referral ban and the 2026 revival prove terms can change with regulation — build client relationships that survive any single program.
• Registration takes 3-21 days, costs Rs 5,000-11,000 at zero-deposit brokers, and requires NISM certification, a clean record, and one-broker-per-segment exclusivity.
• Choose on realistic slabs, total cost, platform quality, payout reliability, and cross-sell range — in that order — and get every commercial term in writing before signing.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute business, legal, or tax advice. Partner program terms, revenue shares, deposits, and fees are as published by the brokers or reported in 2026 and may change at any time — always verify current terms directly with the broker and in writing before signing any agreement.

Earnings figures are illustrative industry ranges, not guarantees. Consult a Chartered Accountant for tax and structuring decisions.