Indian retail investors lost $9.6 billion in stock derivatives trading in a year, with regulatory curbs proving to be of limited effectiveness.

In the year ending in March, Indian retail investors lost 916.85 billion rupees in stock futures and options trading, indicating that the measures taken by regulators to curb significant losses for individual investors have had limited effect. Indian official Pankaj Chaudhary stated in a written reply that the losses during this period were slightly reduced from last year's 1.1 trillion rupees, while the number of investors participating in trading fell from 9.8 million to less than 8 million. The Securities and Exchange Board of India previously found that 9 out of 10 retail derivative traders incurred losses, despite repeated warnings from regulators about the risks of competing with traders who have stronger financial backing and more experience. However, five consecutive years of losses highlight the limitations of regulatory measures and the challenges in discouraging individual investors from engaging in derivative trading.