When you should request a freeze.
Request a freeze the moment you notice anything that suggests someone other than you is operating, or attempting to operate, your trading account. Indicative examples include:
- Fresh positions taken without your knowledge or instruction.
- Holdings sold without your knowledge or instruction.
- Inability to log in to your account, or your password has been changed without your action.
- A change in your linked bank account, email ID, or mobile number that you did not initiate.
- An off-market or DDPI transfer of securities from your demat that you did not authorise.
- Unsolicited OTPs, login alerts, or order-confirmation messages for activity you did not perform.
How to request a freeze.
Use any one of the dedicated channels below. Please send the request from your registered email or registered mobile number — this lets us verify identity quickly. Include your name, UCC / Client ID, and a brief note on what you have observed.
Open the DealDepot app, go to Profile → Security → Freeze my account, and confirm with the in-app 2FA. This is the fastest and most secure mode because you are already authenticated when you make the request.
Subject line: "Freeze my trading account — <PAN>". Send from your registered email ID. Acknowledged on receipt; ticket raised and routed to the Compliance team for action.
If you are unable to use either mode — for example, if your DealDepot app is locked and your registered email may also have been compromised — call the Compliance Officer on +91 22 6917 5201 from any phone. The full contact list, including office address for in-person visits, is on the Escalation Matrix. We will switch to an offline identity-verification protocol before processing the request.
Acknowledgement and verification.
Every freeze request is acknowledged on receipt — by in-app confirmation (Mode 01) or by automated email reply (Mode 02). Before the freeze is actually effected, an authorised DealDepot officer will independently verify your identity. Please keep the following ready:
- Your UCC and the PAN linked to the account.
- Your support code (if you have set one) — this acts as an additional factor.
- Brief, factual details of the suspicious activity — what you saw, when, on which segment.
The officer will read out a summary of your existing open positions and pending orders and will ask how you wish to handle them — see Section 05. Cooperate with these checks; they exist to make sure the freeze request itself is genuine and not from the same bad actor.
Timelines.
Once your identity is verified, the freeze is effected within the regulator-prescribed timelines below. These are the timelines published in NSE / BSE Circulars dated 08 April 2024 in implementation of SEBI Circular dated 12 January 2024.
| When the request is received | Account frozen by |
|---|---|
| During trading hours, or within 15 minutes before market open | Within 15 minutes of identity verification |
| After trading hours, up to 15 minutes before the next trading day's market open | Before the start of the next trading session |
| On a trading holiday or weekend | Before the start of the next trading session |
Equity cash-segment trading hours on NSE / BSE are 09:15 – 15:30 IST, Monday to Friday, excluding Exchange holidays. The pre-open session begins at 09:00 IST.
What happens to open positions and orders.
The freeze blocks online access to your trading account — it stops new orders being placed through the terminal, mobile app, or API. It does not, on its own, change anything else. In particular:
- Existing holdings in your demat remain untouched. Freezing the trading account does not freeze the demat — that is a separate request to your Depository Participant (NSDL).
- Pending orders in the order book continue to live unless you instruct otherwise. The verifying officer will read these out to you and ask whether to cancel them.
- Open positions (futures, options, intraday) continue to be subject to settlement and margin obligations. The verifying officer will read these out and ask whether you want them squared off.
- If you ask us to square off positions or cancel orders during the freeze call, applicable call & trade charges per the tariff sheet will apply.
- DealDepot's Risk Management activities (margin calls, regulatory squareoffs for shortfall, settlement obligations) are unaffected by the freeze and continue to operate per policy.
How to unfreeze (re-enable) your account.
You can request the freeze be lifted at any time, through the same modes listed in Section 02. Re-enabling is not automatic — SEBI requires a fresh due-diligence check before the account is reopened. You will need to:
- Submit a re-enablement request from your registered email or mobile, or in person at the office.
- Complete a Re-KYC exercise — typically a fresh in-person verification (IPV) or video-IPV, plus confirmation of your registered email, mobile, and bank-account details. If any of these were suspected to be compromised, they will need to be updated and re-verified before re-enablement.
- Reset your trading password and 2FA. We will require this even if you don't think the password was compromised.
On completion, you will be intimated by email and on the registered mobile that the account has been re-enabled. The Re-KYC and credential reset together typically take one to two working days, depending on the channels of verification used.
Important clarifications.
- The freeze applies only to online access of the trading account. Risk-management actions by DealDepot (squareoff for margin shortfall, regulatory close-outs, settlement of obligations on T-day, etc.) continue without restriction.
- A freeze request does not constitute a request to mark the UCC as inactive on the Exchange. Inactive marking is a separate Exchange-side action with its own consequences for re-activation.
- The facility is provided free of charge. There is no cost to freeze, no cost to unfreeze, and no implied admission or finding of liability on either side simply by virtue of a freeze request.
- If, following review, the suspicious activity involves a security breach, we may be obliged to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) under the PML Act. This is independent of the freeze and does not, by itself, affect any compensation entitlement you may have under Exchange Investor Protection Fund norms.
Source circulars.
This page implements the following regulatory framework:
- SEBI Circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/POD-1/P/CIR/2024/4 dated 12 January 2024 (opens in new tab) — "Ease of Doing Investments by Investors — Facility of voluntary freezing / blocking of Trading Accounts by Clients" (parent SEBI circular).
- NSE Circular NSE/INSP/61529 dated 08 April 2024 — "Framework for Trading Members to provide the facility of voluntary freezing / blocking the online access of the trading account to their clients" (implementation framework).
- BSE Notice 20240408-12 dated 08 April 2024 — corresponding BSE implementation framework.
The framework applies to all SEBI-registered Trading Members with effect from 01 July 2024.