When you buy in Intraday, the position has to be sold before the market closes. If it can't be — most often because the stock is stuck at its lower circuit with no buyers — the position can't be squared off. Instead of disappearing, the shares are delivered to you: they settle into your demat account and the full purchase price is charged to your ledger. If you don't have the funds to cover it, it's handled exactly like a T+5 position.
Why couldn't my position be sold?
An Intraday buy (long) is closed by selling the shares. If the stock has hit its lower price limit (lower circuit), there may be no buyers at that price, so your sell order — and the end-of-day auto square-off — can't execute. The buy then goes to settlement, and you take delivery of the shares.
What happens to the shares and my ledger?
- The shares settle into your demat account (your Holdings) on the settlement day — you've taken delivery.
- The full purchase amount is debited to your ledger.
If you have enough funds to cover that debit, the shares are simply yours as a normal Delivery holding.
What if I don't have enough funds to pay?
If your ledger can't cover the full amount, it's handled under the same unpaid-securities mechanism as T+5:
- The shares are marked as unpaid and pledged to the Client Unpaid Securities Pool Account (CUSPA).
- You have 5 days to pay the amount and keep the shares.
- If you don't pay within that window, our RMS team sells the shares to recover the debt.
- We may sell sooner if the stock's price falls further, to limit the shortfall.
This is exactly how the T+5 product works after settlement — the stock sits in your Holdings, pledged, with a matching ledger debit until you clear it.
How is this different from a short delivery?
- This case is a buy you couldn't exit → you take delivery, and any unpaid amount goes to CUSPA (like T+5).
- A short delivery is the opposite: a short sell you couldn't buy back → it goes to an exchange auction.
How do I avoid it?
- Sell / square off your Intraday buy yourself, well before the close — don't rely on the auto square-off, especially in a fast-moving stock.
- Be cautious buying stocks that can hit the lower circuit (low-liquidity or sharply falling names), where you may not be able to sell.
- Keep enough funds to pay for delivery in case you can't exit — otherwise the position goes to unpaid securities.