Zerodha’s trading platform, Kite, is used by over 1 crore retail investors. It’s sleek, fast, and efficient—on most days. But on volatile days or expiry sessions, it’s also prone to glitches.
Multiple users have lost money due to:
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Orders not being executed or canceled
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Platform freezing mid-trade
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Wrong order status updates
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Delayed margins or square-off visibility
Despite being blamed on “third-party systems,” the user-facing failure always happens inside Kite.
And most importantly—Zerodha admits many of these glitches publicly.
Verified Kite Glitches Reported by Zerodha
Zerodha, to its credit, publishes a “List of issues” blog where they acknowledge platform failures. They also file such incidents with the NSE technical glitch tracker.
Here are some of the notable ones:
1. Dec 4, 2023 – Login & Order Freeze
Zerodha acknowledged that users couldn’t log in for 30–40 minutes due to an “IP-level update by upstream providers.”
Many intraday traders couldn’t exit positions, especially those in options or bank nifty scalping.
This is not a hypothetical glitch—it’s a platform-wide issue Zerodha admitted to.
2. Nov 6, 2023 – Holdings and Orders Disappeared
For 20+ minutes, the Kite app couldn’t show open orders or holdings for thousands of users.
Although trades were going through, users were trading blind, unaware of their current exposure.
3. June 21, 2024 – Charts Froze, Login Loop
On a bullish day in the market, charts refused to load for 15+ minutes and Kite mobile forced users into login loops.
Zerodha later blamed a CDN (content delivery network) misfire—but user losses were never compensated.
NSE’s Official Data Confirms These Glitches
The NSE India website maintains details of technical issues reported by brokers. These include:
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Platform outages
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Connectivity issues
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Order execution delays
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Display inconsistencies
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API or OMS-related failures
Lets dig more:
According to the latest published sheet, Zerodha reported 12 technical glitches during this period. These include:
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4 issues related to order execution & confirmation delays
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3 issues with display and charting lag
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2 instances of connectivity downtime
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Others marked under OMS, RMS, or vendor escalation
Each of these was filed officially, with timestamp, system type (web/mobile/API), and impact details. While Zerodha often blames third-party vendors, the NSE treats these as broker-side accountability cases.
“Broker outages, when officially acknowledged on NSE, indicate internal breakdowns, not just market volatility,”
— NSE Surveillance Officer, anonymized statement from an RTI reply
This brings regulatory accountability into the picture—and strengthens your case when you claim damages or seek compensation.
What Zerodha Says—And Why It’s Not Enough?
Zerodha typically attributes Kite glitches to external factors beyond their control. And while some of these explanations are technically valid, they don’t help the investor who’s already suffered losses.
Here are four common reasons Zerodha cites—and specific instances when they’ve done so:
1. “Vendor-Side Implementation Error” — July 2024
In the case where a user lost over ₹10 lakh due to trades being executed but not updated in Kite, Zerodha admitted a bug in their internal implementation of an external vendor’s OMS (Order Management System).
While they accepted responsibility and issued a ₹9 lakh refund, Zerodha emphasized it was a “developer-side issue,” not a system-wide outage.
Our Take: Regardless of where the bug originated, the execution happened and the order status failed on Zerodha’s platform—the trader only trusted what Kite showed.
2. “ISP or Network Routing Issue” — December 4, 2023
On this date, tens of thousands of users were unable to log in to Kite during early market hours. Zerodha later stated the issue stemmed from an IP update by upstream Internet Service Providers, which caused some users to be rerouted incorrectly.
Our Take: Traders aren’t supposed to track DNS or ISP health. If your platform depends on multiple hops and fails silently, you still owe your users visibility, alerts, and alternatives.
3. “Data Vendor Downtime” — June 21, 2024
Kite users experienced login loops and unresponsive chart data for over 20 minutes. Zerodha blamed a CDN (Content Delivery Network) error which led to misrouting of static files used by the Kite app and charts (mostly powered by TradingView).
Our Take: Again, the issue was visible only inside the Zerodha app. Users using other brokers (even those using the same chart vendor) weren’t affected, indicating a lapse in integration and failover strategy.
4. “Load Spike During Expiry” — Jan 25, 2024
During expiry sessions, users have frequently reported slow order execution, lag in charts, and stuck margins. Zerodha has responded to these instances saying their servers faced unexpected load due to a higher-than-average number of concurrent trades.
Our Take: Load spikes during expiry are predictable, not unexpected. With India’s largest retail base, Zerodha is expected to proactively scale infra on high-stress days.
Why These Defenses Fall Short?
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The responsibility of the platform lies with the broker, even if third-party tools or lines fail.
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Most explanations are technical and vague—with no formal RCA (root-cause analysis) given to users.
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Very few cases result in voluntary refunds—unless there’s public pressure or regulatory escalation.
This is exactly why proper documentation and escalation to SEBI/NSE are critical, and where we step in to assist. These are not minor issues. Losses can go from ₹5,000 to ₹50 lakh or crores depending on position size and timing.
How We’ve Helped Users Recover From Glitches?
Here are a few cases, where specifically in Zerodha cases, we got the money refunded due to the Zerodha Glitches in the system.
Case 1 -₹10.39 Lakh Refunded from Zerodha
In this case, due to a miscalculation by the systems of Zerodha, a position of the client was squared off without his permission.
Zerodha although tried to defend his position that this was corrected by the systems as soon as it was done. However, in the interim, the client lost ₹10.39 Lakhs already.
We represented the client in an arbitration, proved the case and won the client his money back.
Here is what the Zerodha technical glitch refunded story looked like.
Case 2 – ₹28,000 Refunded via Smart ODR
We helped a user who suffered a major app freeze during trade modification. Through proper documentation, NSE escalation, and Smart ODR filing, the broker refunded the full amount.
Case 3 – ₹50,000 Back After 3 Platform Lags
In another case, a user logged three Kite-like incidents in a single month—sluggish load times, chart misfires, and margin calculation bugs. The broker initially denied responsibility. But with timeline-stamped proofs, we negotiated a refund post Smart ODR escalation.
We maintain a repository of glitch complaints—not just to create awareness, but to help victims file effectively.
You can find a lot of such stories where some zerodha user reported losing lakhs of rupees due to technical glitch, its not so rare. Rare is, to get the refund back.
What You Should Do If You Face a Kite Zerodha Glitch?
Here are the different steps that you need to take as soon as you face Kite Zerodha Glitch, ever.
Step 1: Take a Screenshot or Record the Screen
Capture timestamps, error messages, and trade IDs.
Step 2: File a Support Ticket and Request an RCA
Always ask for a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and a service ticket ID.
Step 3: Escalate to SEBI
If no response in 7 working days, file on SCORES.
Step 4: Register Your Case With Us
Dont know how to fight technically against stockbrokers, get in touch with us. We help traders draft, escalate, and follow up until there’s closure.
We can even represent you in such cases and help in getting Zerodha Technical glitch refund.
Don’t Let a Glitch Cost You More Than It Should!
Zerodha’s Kite app remains the most popular in India—but popularity doesn’t make you immune from failure.
Glitches have happened. Zerodha has admitted to many.
And more importantly, users have lost real money.
If you’ve faced any platform issue—missed trades, unexecuted orders, login errors—don’t just tweet. File it. Document it. Escalate it.
You’re not alone. We’re here to help.
