Technical snag downs ICICIdirect site

Over two million customers of ICICIdirect, the retail online broking arm of ICICI Securities, had a tough time, as its trading website remained shut through the day due to a technical error. Till evening, the reason could not be known.

The problem surfaced on a day when domestic markets opened strongly on global cues and sustained the strength till the closing bell. Customers were informed the site would be available for trading by 2:15 pm. However, the site was unavailable all day.

“The online trading service of ICICIdirect was down since morning,” said a customer who has an account with the trading portal. “I feel stuck on a day when markets were up.”

ICICIdirect is a market leader in online and offline financial product distribution.

A spokesperson for ICICI Securities admitted, “The site is down, which is unfortunate. We are taking calls on the phone of customers who have to square off their positions.”

The message displayed till around 2 pm on the site said: “ICICIDirect is currently unavailable due to a technical issue. We will be available by 2:15 pm.” The message was changed to, “Our website ICICIdirect.com is not available today.”