What Is Intraday & Delivery in Investing? Which One Is Better?

When buying a share through your Depository Participant (DP), you’ll come across two distinct options: Intraday and Delivery. Here’s what each one actually means.

Intraday

When you buy a share under the Intraday option, you’re required to sell it on the same day. If you buy at market open and don’t sell it yourself, your broker will automatically square off (sell) the position shortly before the market closes.

Intraday is commonly referred to as trading, and it’s generally treated as a form of short-term investment activity — positions are opened and closed within a single trading session.

Delivery

Under Delivery, the share isn’t required to be sold on the same day — you can hold it for as long as you like, whether that’s the next day or ten years later. If you do end up selling it on the same day you bought it, that transaction is reclassified as Intraday, and you’ll be charged Intraday-rate fees instead of Delivery-rate fees.

Delivery is commonly referred to as investing, and is generally associated with long-term investment strategies.

→ Related: Long Term vs. Short Term Investments(#7)

Depository Participant (DP) Fees

DPs charge a transaction fee on every buy or sell order. This fee structure differs between Intraday and Delivery trades, and also varies from one DP to another — so it’s worth checking your specific broker’s fee schedule before trading either way.

→ Related: What Is the Share Market?(#2) — for more on demat/trading accounts and how DPs fit into the picture.

Which One Is Better?

There’s no universally “correct” answer here — it depends on your risk appetite, the time you can dedicate to actively monitoring the market, and your investment goals.

That said, Delivery tends to be the better fit for most individual investors, for a couple of reasons: once you buy, you have full flexibility on when to sell, and historically, broad equity markets have trended upward over long time horizons — which works in favor of patient, long-term holders. Intraday trading, by contrast, requires constant attention during market hours and generally carries a higher risk of loss for inexperienced traders, since gains or losses have to play out within a single session.

Have you tried either approach? Which do you lean toward — Intraday or Delivery — and why? Let us know.