GTT stands for Good Till Triggered. It is a broker-held instruction to submit a buy or sell order when a specified price condition is met. The trigger can remain active beyond one trading session, depending on the broker and product.
A GTT is useful when you want to buy at a future price or set an exit for an existing holding without submitting the same DAY order each morning.However, a triggered GTT does not guarantee execution.
How Does a GTT Order Work?
When you create a GTT, the broker stores your instruction. It is not yet an order waiting at the exchange.
For a limit-order GTT, you choose:
Trigger price: The level at which the broker should submit the order when the price condition is met.
Limit price: The maximum you will pay to buy, or the minimum you will accept to sell.
Quantity: The number of shares or contracts covered by the instruction, subject to lot-size requirements.
The broker monitors the relevant price feed and submits the order when it detects the trigger condition. Execution then depends on available buyers or sellers, your limit and applicable checks.
Our guide to trigger price and limit price explains the distinction with buy and sell examples.
GTT buy and sell examples
Assume a stock is currently trading at ₹100:
These are illustrative prices, not recommended buffers. Giving a buy order a higher limit, or a sell order a lower limit, allows more room for execution but also permits a less favourable fill.
Single GTT, OCO and Trailing Stop-Loss
Available features depend on the broker and product:
Single trigger: Submits one order when its condition is met. It can serve as an entry, profit target or stop-loss.
OCO, or One Cancels the Other: Links two conditional instructions, typically a target and a stop-loss. For a long position, the target is above the market and the stop-loss below it. A short position reverses those directions, where supported.
Trailing stop-loss: Adjusts the stop as prices move in your favour. A sell trailing stop moves upward as prices rise; a buy trailing stop moves downward as prices fall. It does not retreat when prices reverse.
Check when your broker cancels the other OCO instruction: cancellation can happen on triggering, before the resulting order fills. Always verify the remaining position.
GTT Order Validity: Is It Always 365 Days?
No. GTT validity depends on the broker, segment and product. A one-year validity is common for equity delivery, but it is not a universal rule.
For example, Upstox’s GTT validity guide specifies 365 days for equity delivery, contract expiry for derivatives, and same-day validity for intraday GTTs.
The GTT’s validity is separate from that of the submitted order. A long-validity instruction can produce a DAY order that is cancelled at session-end if it remains unfilled.
How to Place a GTT Order in Zerodha
On the Kite app:
Select the stock or supported contract and tap Create GTT.
Choose the buy or sell side and the available trigger type.
Enter the quantity, trigger price and order details. For a limit order, enter the limit price.
Review the product, prices and any target or stop-loss settings, then confirm the GTT.
Monitor its status. After it triggers, check the resulting order for execution or rejection.
Zerodha currently supports limit orders and market orders with market protection through GTT. Its official GTT guide explains the available controls.
Zerodha GTT charges, validity and limits
Charges: No separate GTT placement fee. Applicable brokerage, taxes and other transaction charges still apply to executed trades.
Validity: Up to 365 days for equity; only until contract expiry for derivatives.
Active limit: Up to 500 active GTTs per account.
Products: CNC and MTF for NSE/BSE equity, and NRML for supported NSE F&O, BSE F&O and MCX contracts. MIS is not included in its published GTT coverage.
Sell authorisation: Equity-holdings sales require the applicable depository authorisation unless covered by valid POA or DDPI arrangements.
After triggering: Once the exchange order is placed, the trigger deactivates even if the order does not fill. Create a fresh GTT if you still want the instruction after an unfilled order expires.
GTT vs Limit Order vs Stop-Loss
GTT describes a broker-held condition. Limit and stop-loss describe how exchange orders behave. A GTT can submit a limit order, so these are not mutually exclusive categories.
For the differences between market, limit and stop-loss instructions, read Trading Orders Explained.
Why Was My GTT Order Triggered but Not Executed?
A trigger activates the instruction. It does not remove price limits, account checks or liquidity requirements.
Example: a gap beyond your buy limit
You set a buy trigger at ₹100 and a limit at ₹102. The stock closes at ₹90 and opens at ₹110.
The gap crosses the trigger, so the broker can submit the buy limit order. But it cannot buy at ₹110 because your maximum is ₹102. It may execute later if sellers become available at ₹102 or lower while the order remains valid.
An unexecuted DAY order is cancelled at session-end. Do not assume your original GTT will automatically reactivate. Check the broker’s policy and the trigger’s status before placing a replacement.
Does market protection guarantee a fill?
No. A market order with price protection seeks a fill within an allowed range. Depending on the applicable rules, unfilled quantity can remain as a limit order or be cancelled. Price protection does not guarantee full execution.
Also distinguish not triggered from triggered but not executed. GTT monitoring relies on the broker’s received price feed; a brief price move visible elsewhere may not have been captured by that system.
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Why Can a GTT Be Cancelled or Expire?
Besides reaching its validity limit, a GTT may be affected by:
Corporate actions such as a stock split, bonus, rights issue or certain dividends.
A change in the stock’s trading category or series.
Suspension, delisting or a derivative contract’s expiry.
Broker-specific validation or risk controls.
For example, a stock split changes the price basis on which your old trigger was chosen. Review the broker’s notification and create a fresh instruction if necessary.
Review pending GTTs whenever you manually exit or change a position. An old instruction should not be left active for a trade you no longer intend to make.
When Do You Need More Than a GTT?
A GTT can be enough for a planned entry or exit. Some brokers also support linked entry, target and stop-loss instructions.
If your options strategy needs several contracts, scheduled entries or re-entry rules, check whether the selected platform supports the complete workflow. Broker features differ, and multiple orders do not necessarily execute together.
Before automating those rules, assess their historical behaviour, trading costs and drawdowns. Our guide to backtesting options strategies explains the process. Backtesting does not guarantee future returns or live order fills.
Conclusion
Check your GTT’s status after activation, maintain the required funds or holdings, and review pending triggers when your position changes. Treat the trigger and the completed trade as separate events.
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