SEBI's F&O rules arrived in dated steps, so each rule needs its circular date

  1. Six measures in one SEBI circular

    Upfront premium, expiry day margins, lot sizes, one weekly expiry and intraday checks, with start dates from 20 Nov 2024 to 1 Apr 2025.

  2. One weekly expiry per exchange

    NIFTY on NSE and SENSEX on BSE, and the BANKNIFTY weekly ends. The new contract value rule and the extra expiry day margin start the same day.

  3. Upfront premium and no calendar offset on expiry day

    Net premium is collected with margin. The calendar spread benefit ends on expiry day.

  4. Expiry only on Tuesday or Thursday

    An exchange's equity derivatives expire on Tuesday or Thursday only.

  5. NIFTY to Tuesday, SENSEX to Thursday

    NSE moves off Thursday and BSE moves off Tuesday, for contracts expiring from this date.

  6. Expiry settles on a 30 minute VWAP

    Index expiry is computed from the VWAP of its constituents over the last thirty minutes of continuous trading, under the 15 Oct 2026 circular.

Dated steps in SEBI circulars and the NSE and BSE notices that implement them, from 1 Oct 2024 to 7 Dec 2026. Each measure has its own start date, and the text gives them. Source: SEBI circulars of 1 Oct 2024, 26 May 2025 and 15 Oct 2026; NSE and BSE implementing notices. As of 16 Oct 2026.

The circular of 1 Oct 2024 sets six measures, and each one starts on its own date. The timeline lists the main steps.

On lots, a new index contract must be worth at least Rs 15 lakh when it is introduced, and the lot is set so that its value on the review day sits in a band of Rs 15 to 20 lakh. SEBI's master circular of 30 Dec 2024 has exchanges review the lot every six months, and a higher lot applies only to new contracts. On weekly expiries, one benchmark index per exchange can have a weekly contract. That is NIFTY on NSE and SENSEX on BSE, from 20 Nov 2024.

On premium, from 1 Feb 2025 the net option premium is collected upfront from buyers, with the initial margin and the extreme loss margin, and the clearing corporations can check it in their intraday margin snapshots. Short options that expire on the day carry an extra 2% extreme loss margin, from 20 Nov 2024. The calendar spread benefit is also removed for contracts expiring that day.

Expiry days have moved since the first rules. SEBI's circular of 26 May 2025 limits an exchange's equity derivatives to Tuesday or Thursday. From contracts expiring on 1 Sep 2025 NSE's NIFTY weekly moved from Thursday to Tuesday, and BSE's SENSEX moved from Tuesday to Thursday. Until 7 Dec 2026 the index expiry value is the index close on expiry day. From 7 Dec 2026 it is computed from the VWAP of the index constituents over the last thirty minutes of continuous trading, under SEBI's circular of 15 Oct 2026. Read each figure with its circular date.

Before you trade. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. Read the SEBI study