If you have an SBI (State Bank of India) Savings Account or Checking Account then just go to their branch where you hold a visiting account and ask for the form to open a Demat account and another bonus is that if you open your account through your savings account, you don’t have to pay any opening fee for your Demat account. After opening the account, you can start trading on the stock exchange, and when buying shares, the necessary money will be debited from your savings account.
If you don’t have an SBI account, you can open an account with any private broker such as India infoline, Geojit BNB parivar, Share khan online trading, Religare brokerage, angle broker, Karvy brokerage, ICICI Securities and many others but subject to availability or existence of branches near your city.
All these private companies charge certain opening fees and a minimum balance to start trading. You can also apply for a Demat account online at the respective company’s website.
To open a Demat account, you must send a copy of your PAN card, bank statement, proof of address, photo. It will take 7-20 days to receive your welcome kit, depending on the company’s terms and conditions.
I would suggest all beginners to open a Demat account through Religare broker. The reason behind this is that they credit interest on the uninvested money left in your Demat account. This feature is the only unique feature of this company apart from all the other companies that used to exist in India.