A digital push

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world. - Archimedes Digital transformation or disruption, whatever you call it, is that lever and a grossly underpenetrated domestic market, practically in any segment, is that fulcrum. A case in point is the broking industry. In the early part of the last decade, the sector looked ripe for disruption, given the abysmally low coverage of demat accounts. While traditional brokers who charge a percentage fee on the transaction value have existed for years, the advent of tech-driven discount brokers who charge a flat transaction-based fee, irrespective of the volume and the trade size, has disrupted the space. Their lever is the asset-light, scalable, technology-driven digital medium, which provides a seamless, superfast and hassle-free customer experience. The benefits of cost savings, in turn, are passed over in the form of zero transaction fee (delivery trades), as well as a flat fee (intra-day). The results of these disruptions have started gaining prominence since FY2020 following a spate of sweeping developments in the financial-services space. These include demonetisation, tax reforms, a rise