Best Forex Brokers in India

Benzinga readers love eToro as their forex broker when trading from India.

Trading forex in India involves quite a few limitations and legal issues. Be sure to choose a broker overseen by a major financial regulator, such as the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or Cyprus’ Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), which generally comply with the European Union’s rigorous Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) rules. Not all forex brokerages are created equal, and most are not registered in India, even though they accept Indian clients. So, make sure your needs as a trader are adequately met by the forex broker you select before committing any funds.

6 Best Forex Brokers that Accept Indian Clients

If you’re from India and you’re looking for a reliable online forex broker, the list below offers some excellent options located outside of India but regulated by reputable financial authorities.

Though these brokers don’t have a physical presence in India, they accept clients from India who make deposits using payment services and electronic wallets. The best forex broker that accepts clients from India depends in large part on your unique situation and your particular needs as a trader.

• Best for MT4/5 Users: FOREX.com
• Best for Copy Trading: eToro
• Best for International Forex and CFD Trading: Exness
• Best Mobile App: OctaFX
• Best Welcome Bonus: Libertex
• Best International Broker: Interactive Brokers

1. Best for MT4/5 Users: FOREX.com

FOREX.com ranks as the No. 1 U.S. forex broker by client assets. Regulated by the U.S. National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), FOREX.com is also registered and has oversight from regulators in the U.K., Australia, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Cayman Islands.  

Accounts at FOREX.com require a minimum deposit of $250. The broker lets you trade micro lots if your preference is to start with smaller amounts. FOREX.com also offers an Islamic account option in addition to keeping client accounts segregated from its own funds. FOREX.com offers the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms from MetaQuotes and NinjaTrader.

Trading platforms can be web-based or downloaded to a desktop or mobile app. FOREX.com also gives its customers access to the company’s proprietary Advanced Trading Platform for desktop computers and its Web Trading platform if you prefer to trade via a web browser.

Due to U.S. restrictions, FOREX.com has a maximum leverage ratio of only 50:1. For more information, you can visit the broker’s official website at FOREX.com.

2. Best for Copy Trading: eToro

eToro's social trading platform has provided forex products and more to its retail clients for over 11 years. eToro creates a trading community for users.

eToro's most popular forex trading features include CopyTrader, CopyPortfolios, and the Social News Feed.

CopyTrader and CopyPortfolio give you the ability to locate a successful trader and copy their strategy. You can copy 100 traders and the feature is easy to set up and access.

You get access to a Twitter-like feed to trader updates with its social newsfeed as well. Traders discuss everything from markets, strategies and can get alerts based on certain market factors.

3. Best for International Forex and CFD Trading: Exness

Exness bills itself as the trading platform that that gives you the best market conditions, flexible leverage, very fast deposits and withdrawals and a mobile app that makes it easier to get your trading done.

You can use Exness to diversify your portfolio, get into CFDs if you want to partake in a new trading instrument and look into many forex pairs. You can choose from a Standard or Pro account depending on the spreads you’re looking for.

Also, Exness is a good option for scalpers and algo traders who want to join a platform that was designed for professionals such as themselves.

4. Best Mobile App: OctaFX

OctaFX regularly conducts global and local promotion campaigns with valuable money and product prizes and trading perks.

OctaFX's Trade-and-Win loyalty program lets you get gifts just for trading like shirts, caps, sports bikes and other prizes.

OctaFX's key value is transparency. Its multilingual customer support team is always prompt and to the point and the payments are processed by the most popular systems without delays.

5. Best Welcome Bonus: Libertex

Libertex offers high-speed, reliable, cutting-edge technology platforms. Libertex offers an engaging, compelling trading experience and serves Indian forex traders. Besides currencies, you can also trade stocks, indexes, commodities, gold, oil and gas.

You can use Libertex's Multiplier Feature, set at the moment of opening a trade. The Multiplier is a value that determines how the trade result changes relative to the underlying asset price.

Practice with a demo account and learn more.

6. Best International Broker: International Brokers

When you use IBKR to open a forex account as an Indian trader, you get all the same benefits that everyone else does. Register today and you will see:

• Real-time quotes
• Solid liquidity
• 100+ currency pairs
• Professional trading tools
• Tight spreads
• Low commissions
• No hidden spreads
• No markups

The beautiful thing about using IBKR is that you can open up a forex portfolio and look into other investment options at the same time. With this level of access and the support that is available, you can build a robust portfolio without opening dozens of accounts across the Internet.

Trading Forex in India

The national currency of India is the Indian rupee ₹ with ISO 4217 symbol code INR. The rupee is divided into 100 smaller denominations known as paisa (p). According to the Bank for International Settlements’ 2016 Triennial Central Bank Survey, the Indian currency was ranked 18th among world currencies, making up 1.1 percent of daily forex turnover.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set forth the legal framework for foreign exchange transactions by the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999. The RBI regulates and oversees foreign exchange transactions in India and the Securities and Exchange Board (SEBI) is the principal regulator of the Indian stock market and the forex brokers based in India are licensed under FEMA.

The SEBI-regulated forex brokers, which include the 3 major stock exchanges in India, are only allowed to offer INR-based currency pairs for USD, EUR, GBP and JPY. All other currency pairs are strictly barred from trading in India unless a specific transaction is authorized by the Indian government.

Due to an increase in financial scams involving forex brokers, the Indian government was forced to severely restrict the way Indian citizens can operate in the forex market. If you live in India, you are not legally allowed to trade forex currency pairs that do not have the Indian rupee as the base currency or counter-currency.

You can still open an account with a foreign-based broker as long as you send your deposit through an electronic wallet service such as PayPal, Neteller or another similar online payment service. Avoid using a wire transfer from a bank or other financial institution based in India or a credit or debit card issued by an Indian entity to fund a forex trading account.

What to Look for in a Forex Broker

Despite the general lack of normal online forex brokers based in India, other than 3 stock exchanges, you can still trade forex through foreign-based online brokers. Generally, a quality brokerage has the following 11 elements:

• Oversight by a reputable financial regulator
• Excellent reputation among forex traders
• Allows you to trade in the type of account you prefer
• Requires an affordable minimum deposit
• Gives you trading access to all major and minor forex currency pairs and other assets
• Has a maximum leverage ratio appropriate for your trading strategy and risk tolerance
• Offers competitive dealing spreads
• Provides clients with insurance against negative balances
• Keeps re-quotes and slippage on orders to a minimum
• Maintains client funds in segregated accounts
• Withdrawal and deposit options fit your needs

Another important factor to consider when choosing a forex broker is platform and trading software. In addition to their own proprietary trading platform, many brokers offer cTrader, NinjaTrader, and the very popular MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms from MetaQuotes that both support automated trading.

Get the Right Forex Broker in India

Trading forex anywhere can be risky, but that seems especially true in India if you're unfamiliar with the country’s legal restrictions on currency transactions. If you live in India and want to trade the Indian rupee exclusively against USD, GBP, JPY or EUR, then you can legally trade through one of the 3 SEBI-regulated Indian stock exchanges that act as forex brokers.

It’s against the law to use an account from a bank or other India-based financial institution to fund a trading account and make forex market transactions in currency pairs that do not include the INR. If you still wish to trade non-INR currency pairs, then you must make a margin deposit to a foreign broker by transferring funds from an electronic payment service such as PayPal or Neteller.

Frequently Asked Questions