Who Is Dr Aniruddha Malpani? IVF Specialist And Investor Alleges Zerodha 'Scam' Over Rs 5-Cr Withdrawal Issue

Mumbai-based IVF specialist and investor Dr Aniruddha Malpani has accused stock brokerage Zerodha of running a "scam," claiming the platform blocked him from accessing his funds.

In a post on Twitter, Malpani wrote, "The Zerodha scam! They don't allow me to withdraw my own money from their account, saying the daily limit for withdrawal is Rs 5 crore. They use my money for free!" He added, "This is unfair," and tagged Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.

The post also included a screenshot showing an available cash balance of Rs 42.9 crore, though Malpani did not specify how much he attempted to withdraw.

Responding to the allegation, Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath clarified on X that Dr Malpani’s payout requests had already been processed. He said the brokerage imposes certain checks "for the sake of our systems’ sanity" to prevent potential issues during fund withdrawals.

Kamath added Rs 5 crore is the threshold above which customers are required to raise a ticket, as "once funds are paid out, there is no way for us to recover them."

Dr Malpani is not just a medical professional, but also a seasoned investor with a publicly disclosed shareholding portfolio estimated to exceed Rs 300 crore. He is the founder of Malpani Ventures, a Mumbai-based firm that invests in early-stage startups, focusing on frugal innovation.

A graduate of Bombay University, Dr Malpani obtained his M.D. in 1986 in gynaecology. He received advanced IVF training from UCSF, San Francisco, and also studied at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Yale.

In 1991, he co-founded the Malpani Infertility Clinic in Mumbai, marking the beginning of his journey into assisted reproduction. Alongside his wife, he has also founded HELP, the Health Education Library for People, India’s first consumer health education resource centre.

He has co-authored several books.