Oquilia Markets Lab
F&O Reality Check
Your own futures and options result, set against SEBI’s study of 78.6 lakh traders: where you stand, what the charges took, and how traders like you fared. Your broker’s report is read on your device and never uploaded.
87.7%
of individual F&O traders lost money in FY26
Rs 91,685 cr
lost by individuals in FY26, after charges
Rs 1.17 lakh
average loss per trader
0.5%
of traders active FY22–FY26 made money in all five years
Source: SEBI, Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25–FY26) and Trading Behaviour of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25–FY26), August 2026.
Nine in ten, five years running
- FY2290.2%
- FY2391.5%
- FY2491.1%
- FY2590.9%
- FY2687.7%
Share of individual traders in equity derivatives with a net loss after charges. SEBI, Chart 25.
How to get your P&L report
Log in to your broker’s back office (the reports section of Zerodha Console, Groww, Upstox, Angel One, Dhan and others), open the profit and loss report, choose the F&O or derivatives segment and one financial year, and download it as Excel or CSV. A tax P&L report works too. If your broker gives only a PDF, type the totals in.
How the check works
The tool finds the table of contracts in your file by its headings and adds up each contract’s realised profit or loss before charges. It takes the charges from the report’s own total, or adds up its brokerage, STT, exchange, GST, SEBI and stamp duty lines, and shows you everything it read so you can correct it. Turnover is buy value plus sell value, which is how SEBI counts it: the premium for options, the contract value for futures.
Your net result is then placed in SEBI’s twelve profit and loss bands for FY26 (Table 46 of the profitability study), and compared with SEBI’s figures by turnover (Tables 22 and 23), by what was traded (Table 21, FY25 and FY26 together), by years of trading in a row (Table 15 of the behaviour study) and by days traded (Table 18, from SEBI’s sample of about 5,050 traders). SEBI’s figures cover the roughly 90% of individual traders whose brokers were in its sample. Your result is compared with FY26 whatever period your report covers.
One caution on charges. The study says charges were 35% of loss-makers’ trading losses and 21% of profit-makers’ gains in FY26. The rupee figures in its Table 47 give about 27% and 14%. We quote the study’s stated finding and note the difference.
The check reports facts about a result. It is not advice on whether to trade. For the cost of a single trade, see the True Cost Calculator; to check who is giving you tips, see Tip Check.
Questions
Is my P&L report uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is opened and read by your own browser, on your phone or computer. Nothing from it is sent to Oquilia or anyone else, and nothing is stored. You can switch off your internet after the page loads and it still works.
Which brokers' reports does it read?
Any P&L report in Excel (.xlsx) or CSV with a column for the contract and a column for profit or loss, or for buy and sell values, which is how brokers' F&O P&L statements are usually laid out. It shows you what it read, so you can correct it. Old .xls files and PDFs cannot be read; save the report as .xlsx or CSV, or type the figures in.
What share of F&O traders lose money in India?
SEBI's August 2026 study found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity derivatives made a net loss in FY26, down from 90.9% in FY25. Individuals lost Rs 91,685 crore in FY26 after charges, and 92% of the losses came from options.
Does trading for more years improve the odds?
Not in SEBI's data. The share of traders with a loss rose from 91% among first-year traders to over 95% among those who had traded four or more years in a row. Among traders active in every year from FY22 to FY26, 0.5% made a profit in all five years and 65.6% lost money in every one.
How is F&O income taxed?
As non-speculative business income, not capital gains, so it is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate. A loss can be set off against other income except salary and carried forward for eight years against business income if the return is filed by the due date. For a tax audit, turnover is the total of each contract's profit or loss ignoring the sign, under ICAI's guidance note. Check your case with a chartered accountant.