Rohit (name changed) did everything a careful trader is supposed to do.
He set a target so that the moment the price reached it, his profit would be booked and he would be out of the trade automatically.
With a registered broker and a clear plan, there was nothing left to do but wait.
The price reached his target. And then nothing happened. The order never executed.
He sat there holding a position that should have closed in profit, unable to exit cleanly.
By the time the option expired a few days later, his winning trade had quietly become a loss of roughly ₹20,000 to ₹30,000.
The price did its part. His plan did its part.
The only thing that failed was the broker’s system, the one part of this that was entirely in their hands.
Why Your Broker Keeps Saying “We Are Checking” After a System Glitch?
Rohit is from Odisha, and he had taken an index option, holding it across a couple of sessions toward an expiry. On the day it mattered, the 3rd, the move he was waiting for arrived and his target was hit.
The profit-booking simply did not trigger. When he opened the app, the price had been there, but his order had not executed and he was still in the position.
He did not sit on it. He emailed, he called, he complained, all on the same day.
What followed was a week of being managed rather than helped. Every call landed with a different executive, so each time he had to retell the entire story from the start.
The answer never changed: yes, the movement came, give us some time, we are checking with our technical team.
When you suffer from a sudden technical glitch in stock market trading platforms, a senior official promising you a final conclusion by Monday is common practice. But Monday came and went in silence. The matter dragged from the 3rd, past the expiry on the 4th, all the way to the 10th
Only when he warned that he would take it to a consumer forum and complain formally did the phone ring back, within half an hour.
And then came the part that gave the game away: they sent him exchange data that covered only part of the day.
The morning, and used it to claim the movement had happened earlier, not when his timestamped screenshots showed the price actually reaching his target.
Is the Broker Liable for Technical Glitch Losses?
You do not need to be a trader to see where the duty was broken.
1. A broker’s core job is to execute your orders, and your target should fire when the price hits it
When the price reaches the level you set and the order still does not trigger, that is an execution failure on the broker’s side, not a risk you signed up for.
Being trapped in a position you tried to exit, watching it decay into expiry, is a loss that flows directly from that failure.
The broker is meant to act with due care and proper systems, and a target that does not execute when the market reached it is the opposite of that.
2. Dragging a documented grievance for a week is its own failure
Shuffling him between executives, making him re-explain each time, promising a Monday answer and then going quiet.
Only responding when he threatened to escalate, is not how a registered broker is supposed to handle a complaint.
The delay is not a neutral inconvenience; it is part of the problem.
3. Sending only half a day’s data is the broker shaping the record
When a broker hands you exchange data that conveniently covers just the morning, while your own timestamped screenshots show the price reaching your target later, it is curating the evidence to fit its story.
The honest answer is the full day’s exchange data, second by second, and that is exactly the thing to insist on, because it is neutral and it cannot be trimmed to suit anyone.
His position here is strong precisely because he treated proof as the priority from the first hour.
He has timestamped screenshots of the order sitting at the target price, the demat high and low showing the price reached.
The complaint ticket, the email trail of his follow-ups, and even the partial exchange data the broker itself sent, which, placed against the complete day’s data, exposes the gap in their version.
What to Do When a Broker Glitch Turns a Winning Trade Into a Loss?
When your target is hit and the order does not fire, do not accept that as bad luck or your own mistake.
It is the broker’s system failing at the one task it exists to perform, executing your orders. A broker cannot let a winning trade rot into a loss through its own glitch.
And then bury the question under a week of “we are checking” and a carefully trimmed half-day of data.
To hold them accountable, proper technical glitch reporting must begin the moment you notice the failure. The complete record of that day settles it, and Rohit has been building toward that record since the very first hour.
The price reached his target. Everything that happened after that is the broker’s to answer for, not his to absorb.
How to File a Complaint to Recover Money Lost Due to a Broker Glitch?
Step 1: Secure Your Digital Trail
Freeze all evidence and back up your data immediately. Take immediate, timestamped screenshots of the app interface showing the price hitting your target, your unexecuted order status, and your open position.
Save copies of the live demat highs and lows from that specific trading session before the daily charts reset.
Step 2: Gather Financial and Trading Evidence
Download the complete, official contract notes and the transaction log for that entire day. Do not accept a generic summary.
Isolate the specific trade, noting the exact timestamps when your target price was breached by the market to prove the system failed to execute your order.
Step 3: File a complaint in SCORES
If the broker stonewalls you with “we are checking” or sends manipulated, partial data, escalate the matter to SEBI’s SCORES portal.
Upload your timestamped screenshots, the complete day’s exchange data, and your email trail to prove the broker’s system caused a direct financial loss.
Step 4: Raise a Complaint in SMART ODR
If the broker denies the glitch on SCORES or claims the price move didn’t happen at the right millisecond, move the dispute to the SMART ODR platform.
This places your absolute proof, the complete day’s market data versus your unexecuted target, before an independent arbitrator.
Step 5: Go for Stock Market Arbitration
During your virtual arbitration hearings, stick purely to the facts. Emphasize that a broker’s core, legal duty is to execute your orders accurately when a target is hit, and they cannot shift the financial burden of a system glitch onto you.
Lost Capital to a Broker Glitch? Get Expert Help with Your Recovery Case
Many victims feel completely helpless because the market ultimately moved against them before they could manually exit the trade.
You might believe that because it looks like a regular trading loss on paper, you have no legal grounds to fight back, but that is a myth.
If you are wondering how to fix loss due to technical glitch situations, the answer lies in strict regulatory accountability.
Our team helps victims break down the chaos. We will audit your trading logs, match the exact market ticks with your unexecuted target order, expose trimmed or partial data provided by the broker, and build a solid file for your recovery case.
If a broker’s system failure trapped you in a position and wiped out your capital, reach out to us today to evaluate your legal options.
Conclusion
When your target is hit but the broker’s system fails to execute the order, it is a severe system failure, not a risk you agreed to take as a trader.
A broker cannot hide behind a week of empty updates, shuffle you between customer executives, or hand you curated, half-day data to mask a system glitch.
A technical excuse does not change the fact that the platform failed to do its core job.
Do not let a broker’s administrative silence force you to absorb the loss.
Collect your timestamped screenshots, demand the full day’s exchange data, and file formal complaints to fight for your recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. My target was hit but the order did not execute. Whose fault is the loss?
If the price reached your target and the order still did not trigger, that points to an execution failure on the broker’s side. The loss that follows from being stuck in the position is the broker’s responsibility, not a risk you accepted.
2. The broker keeps saying “we are checking.” What should I do?
Keep every screenshot, email and complaint ticket, follow up in writing, and insist on the full day’s exchange data. Persistent stonewalling of a documented grievance is itself a failure the broker can be held to.
3. They sent exchange data covering only part of the day. Does that matter?
Yes. Partial data that conveniently supports their version is not the answer. The complete, second-by-second exchange data for the whole day is the neutral record, and that is what should decide it.
