How to buy your first share on NEPSE: the TMS step-by-step

A reader opened a Demat account at his bank last Mangsir, transferred some money, logged in expecting a "buy" button, and found nothing. The account showed zero holdings and no way to add any. He assumed the bank had set it up wrong. The bank had set it up exactly right. A Demat account holds shares. It does not buy them.

Buying your first share on the secondary market in Nepal takes four separate accounts, set up in a specific order, and most first-timers do not learn that until they hit the wall the reader hit. None of it is hard. It is just not explained anywhere in one place.

The four accounts, and what each one does

Each account sits on top of the last. Skip one and the chain breaks.

A Demat account on its own lets you hold shares, including ones allotted from an IPO. It does not let you trade them. That gap is what catches everyone.

The distinction that trips everyone up: Mero Share vs TMS

Worth its own section, because the mix-up is universal.

Mero Share (run by CDS and Clearing Ltd) is the investor portal. You use it to apply for IPOs and right shares through C-ASBA, to see your portfolio and weighted average cost, and to authorise share transfers from your Demat when you sell. You cannot buy or sell shares on the open market through Mero Share.

TMS (Trade Management System) is your broker's trading platform. It is the only place you place an actual secondary-market buy or sell order. Each broker runs its own branded TMS portal, and your login works only with the broker you signed up with.

The clean way to remember it: you apply for new shares on Mero Share, and you trade existing shares on TMS. For the IPO side of Mero Share, the IPO allotment post covers how the lottery actually works. This post is about the TMS side.

Step 1: Open a Demat account

Go to a depository participant. That is a bank, a broker, or a merchant banker licensed by CDSC. Take:

• Citizenship certificate (original plus a photocopy of both sides)
• One or two passport-size photos
• A Nepali savings account to link for dividends and IPO blocking
• Your signature on the KYC form

A PAN is optional for small investors but recommended, and effectively expected once you start trading regularly or in larger amounts, so register one early if you do not have it. Processing takes one to three business days, after which you receive a 16-digit BOID, your Demat account number.

Cost: roughly Rs 50–150 to open and about Rs 100 a year to maintain. Figures vary by depository participant, so confirm your bank's schedule.

Step 2: Activate Mero Share

Most depository participants register your Mero Share at the same time as the Demat, or give you the credentials to do it. Registration is around Rs 50, with a Rs 50 annual renewal. This is the account you will log into for every IPO, and it is where your holdings show up after they settle. Avoid the rookie demat errors collected in the Mero Share mistakes post while you set it up.

Step 3: Open a broker account and get your TMS login

This is the step that unlocks buying. Pick a licensed stockbroker. As of 2025 there are around 90 SEBON-licensed brokers, with the wider NEPSE network listing 92 across 41 remote work stations in 21 cities. Compare them on commission rates, the quality of their online TMS, and whether they have a branch near you.

The sign-up flow:

1. Fill the broker's online registration form and upload your documents.
2. Complete KYC verification. Many brokers now do this online over a video call; some still ask you to visit the office once. Either way, you cannot skip it.
3. Once KYC clears, the broker emails your TMS username and password, usually within a few days.

You cannot trade until that KYC is verified and the credentials arrive. Your TMS login is tied to that one broker; to use a different broker you open a separate account.

Step 4: Fund the account and place your first buy order

NEPSE trades Monday to Friday, 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with a short pre-open session before 11 for order entry and price discovery. Since April 2026 the market opens on Fridays and closes Saturday and Sunday, following the government's two-day weekend, so the old Sunday-to-Thursday week is gone. Nothing happens on the weekend or on public holidays.

Add money first. NEPSE has integrated ConnectIPS directly into the TMS. Inside the portal you transfer funds from your bank through the ConnectIPS gateway to the broker's collection account, so you need a ConnectIPS user ID alongside your TMS credentials. After a sale settles, the broker sends proceeds to the bank account linked to your BOID.

Place the order. Log into your broker's TMS portal, search the company's symbol, enter the quantity and your price, and choose a limit order so you control the price you pay. The trade executes the moment a matching sell order exists at your price.

On lot sizes. The board lot depends on face value: a Rs 10 face-value share trades in lots of 100, a Rs 100 face-value share in lots of 10. You can buy fewer than a full lot through the odd-lot market, down to a single share. So yes, you can start with one share if you want to learn the mechanics before committing real money.

What happens after you click buy

Three things follow, and the trading costs post breaks the friction down in full. In short:

• Settlement is T+2. Shares land in your Demat two business days after the trade. Buy on Monday, hold them by Wednesday.
• The broker commission applies on both buy and sell, on a sliding scale from about 0.36% on small trades down to 0.24% on the largest.
• Two fixed costs ride along: a 0.015% SEBON levy and a flat Rs 25 DP charge per scrip per day.

That friction is why day-trading tiny amounts rarely pays. The charges eat the move. NEPSE's depth has grown regardless: by early 2025 there were over 6.5 million Demat accounts and roughly 2.55 million investors holding TMS credentials, so the retail base is real and still climbing.

What you actually need to know

• A Demat account is step one of four, not the whole thing. You need Mero Share and a broker's TMS login before you can place a single buy order. Budget a week for the KYC and credential wait.
• Mero Share is for applying, TMS is for trading. Memorise that line and you have skipped the mistake almost every beginner makes.
• Start with a limit order and a small quantity. Odd-lot trading lets you buy as little as one share, which is the cheapest way to learn the TMS flow before you size up. Direct equity should sit after your emergency fund and retirement contributions are in place, not before, as the Nepal Money Basics guide lays out.

Stuck at the KYC step or unsure which broker to pick? Email parjanya57@gmail.com.

This post is part of the Nepal Money Basics guide — the investing section.