Intraday Square-Off Timing in India: Rules, Auto Square-Off, and How Brokers Handle It

Every retail trader who’s done intraday on NSE has either been auto-squared-off at a worse price than they planned or — worse — accidentally taken delivery and faced a margin shortfall. Both are avoidable with one minute of upfront knowledge.

This is exactly when intraday positions get closed and what the rules say.

NSE cash market: the actual cutoff

NSE’s regular trading window: 9:15 AM – 3:30 PM IST.

There is no SEBI-mandated “auto square-off” time for intraday. The 3:30 PM close is when the session ends. But brokers enforce their own earlier cutoffs to avoid carrying client risk.

Broker square-off windows (typical)

Confirm your broker’s current cutoff in their support docs. They can change without notice.

What “auto square-off” actually does

At the broker cutoff:

1. The system places market orders to close all open MIS positions.
2. Whatever price you get, you get. Bid-ask spread at 3:20 on illiquid mid-caps can be brutal.
3. A “missed” square-off triggers a penalty (₹50 – ₹200 per position depending on broker).
4. In rare cases (illiquid stock, price freeze), the position may convert to delivery.

This is why “I’ll close it myself in the last 5 minutes” is a bad plan. Set your own exit at 3:00 – 3:10 PM.

CO and BO orders: how they square off

• Cover Order (CO): has a built-in stop. Auto-converted at broker cutoff.
• Bracket Order (BO): has SL + target. Most brokers have phased out BO post the SEBI margin changes — check current availability. See MIS vs CO vs BO.

What happens if MIS converts to delivery

This is the worst-case scenario. It can happen when:

• The stock is in a circuit and can’t be sold at market.
• The system fails to execute the square-off.
• You held overnight on a product type that doesn’t permit it.

Consequences:

• Margin shortfall penalty if you don’t have full delivery margin.
• T+1 settlement obligation — you must pay 100% of the trade value by next morning.
• Auctioned shortfall if you sold short on MIS and couldn’t deliver: NSE buys the shares at the next-day auction price + penalty.

Auction penalty on short sales can be 5–20% of trade value. This is the single most expensive mistake an intraday trader can make.

How to avoid the trap

1. Exit by 3:00 PM on every MIS position you actively manage.
2. Never short-sell MIS on illiquid stocks — auction risk is real.
3. Avoid MIS shorts on the last trading day before a long weekend — execution risk doubles.
4. Read your broker’s circular emails — square-off times change occasionally.
5. For F&O: don’t try to “scalp the last 5 minutes” of an expiry. Cutoff + expiry settlement is a disaster combo.

Special days

• Expiry day (Thursday for Bank Nifty / Tuesday or Wednesday for Nifty 2026 schedule): F&O positions settle at the closing-formula price. Don’t carry undefined-risk positions to settlement.
• Muhurat trading: the special 1-hour session has its own cutoff (typically 15 minutes before end).
• Half days / RBI policy days: confirm broker times in advance.

For the related margin context, see intraday trading margin rules.

A clean square-off routine

• 2:50 PM: review all open positions.
• 3:00 PM: close trades that aren’t actively winning. Don’t hope.
• 3:10 PM: hard cutoff for closing remaining positions yourself.
• After 3:10: let auto-square-off handle whatever’s left and accept the slippage.

This 20-minute discipline saves more money than any indicator setting ever will.

FAQs

Can I get a position converted from MIS to CNC? Yes — “Convert to CNC” lets you take delivery instead of square-off, if you have the required delivery margin. Confirm with your broker how late you can do this.

Are there penalties for repeated late square-offs? Yes — most brokers escalate to call-and-trade fees or temporary product-type restrictions.

Does MIS auto-square-off apply to currency / commodity? Yes, with different cutoff times. Check your broker’s MCX / CDS pages.

For broader intraday discipline, see the intraday for beginners guide.