Amidst a surge in market activity following the announcement of a new US-India trade deal, users of Zerodha, a prominent Indian stock trading platform, reported experiencing technical difficulties with the app. The reported issues surfaced during a period of heightened trading volume, potentially disrupting investors' ability to capitalize on market movements spurred by the trade agreement.
The US-India trade deal, which reduces reciprocal tariffs to 18%, has instilled optimism in the Indian markets, with the GIFT Nifty indicating a strong opening. This agreement is expected to attract foreign capital and bolster the Indian rupee, setting the stage for potential growth in Indian equities. Sectors like textiles, seafood, auto ancillaries, chemicals, and select consumer companies are anticipated to be key beneficiaries of the lowered tariffs.
However, the technical glitches reported by Zerodha users have raised concerns about the reliability of trading platforms during peak activity. While the specific nature and extent of the app issues remain unclear, users have taken to social media to voice their frustrations, reporting problems with order execution, portfolio management, and accessing real-time market data.
Zerodha has yet to release an official statement addressing the reported app issues. The disruption has reignited discussions about the robustness of the digital infrastructure supporting India's financial markets and the importance of contingency planning.
The timing of these technical difficulties is particularly inopportune, given the positive market sentiment surrounding the US-India trade deal. The Indian stock market had already demonstrated resilience, recovering from losses incurred after the recent budget announcement. The new trade deal was expected to further fuel market momentum, potentially leading to increased foreign investment in Indian stocks.
This is not the first time that trading platforms in India have faced technical challenges. In December 2025, a major global outage at Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider, disrupted access to several key Indian stock trading platforms, including Zerodha, Groww, and Upstox. The incident, which lasted approximately 16 minutes, affected user logins and order placements, highlighting the reliance on critical infrastructure for financial markets. Zerodha explicitly stated that its Kite platform was unavailable due to "cross-platform downtime on Cloudflare".
The incident directly impacted thousands of Indian investors who were unable to execute trades, manage portfolios, or access real-time market information during a crucial part of the trading day. Such events can erode investor confidence in the reliability of digital trading platforms, even if the fault lies with an external service provider. It also raises questions about contingency planning and redundancy for critical financial infrastructure.
The current situation with Zerodha underscores the need for continuous upgrades and maintenance of trading infrastructure to handle increased trading volumes and ensure seamless user experience. As the Indian stock market continues to grow and attract more investors, the reliability of trading platforms will be paramount in maintaining investor confidence and facilitating efficient market operations.