Kotak Neo Static IP: Fix Your Trading API After the SEBI Deadline

Get a dedicated static IP through QuotaGuard Shield and register it via Kotak Neo's static IP portal. Your trading API connections will go through once the IP is whitelisted.

Important upfront: Kotak Neo's trading API at mnapi.kotaksecurities.com is firewalled by design. It only accepts connections from pre-registered IPs. If you try to connect before registering your IP, the connection times out. That's not a bug. That's not a QuotaGuard compatibility problem. That's the enforcement mechanism working as intended. You can't test the connection until after the registration step.

We tested connectivity on April 2, 2026 through a QuotaGuard Shield proxy. The developer portal at napi.kotaksecurities.com returned HTTP 200 through the proxy. The trading API timed out without a registered IP. Once you register, connections go through.

SEBI's static IP mandate for retail algo trading took effect April 1, 2026. Full regulatory background, all affected brokers, and the SEBI circular citations here.

Get a Static IP With QuotaGuard Shield

QuotaGuard Shield is an egress proxy. You route your API calls through it. They exit from a dedicated, static IP that never changes. You register that IP with Kotak Neo. Done.

Shield uses SSL passthrough. Your broker credentials and order data are never decrypted by the proxy. The connection is encrypted end-to-end between your app and Kotak Neo's servers. Each account gets a dedicated IP. Not shared. SEBI requires the IP to be traceable to you specifically.

Kotak Neo is one of the few brokers that published clear, direct documentation on their static IP requirement. Their official setup guide is at kotakneo.com/platform/kotak-neo-trade-api/static-ip-details/. Read it before you proceed.

Setup

Sign up at quotaguard.com/products/pricing. Your proxy URL and dedicated static IP are in the dashboard immediately. Set QUOTAGUARDSHIELD_URL as an environment variable on your platform (Railway, Render, Fly.io, EC2, or anything else).

If you're on Heroku, Shield is also available as an add-on: heroku addons:create quotaguardshield:starter. It sets the environment variable automatically.

Python: neo_api_client

import os
from neo_api_client import NeoAPI
 
proxy_url = os.environ['QUOTAGUARDSHIELD_URL']
os.environ['HTTPS_PROXY'] = proxy_url
os.environ['HTTP_PROXY'] = proxy_url
 
client = NeoAPI(
    consumer_key="your_consumer_key",
    consumer_secret="your_consumer_secret",
    environment='prod',
)

The neo_api_client library uses requests under the hood. Setting HTTPS_PROXY and HTTP_PROXY before initializing NeoAPI routes all outbound requests through Shield automatically.

Register With Kotak Neo

1. Get your static IP from the QuotaGuard Shield dashboard.
2. Go to Kotak Neo's static IP registration page.
3. Submit your IP for whitelisting. Kotak Neo's docs indicate this is a manual review step.
4. Wait for confirmation.
5. Test your connection once confirmed.

In my experience, when a broker's API is firewalled this strictly, it's better to have everything configured and ready before submitting the IP for registration. Set up the proxy, update your code, and confirm the developer portal responds through Shield. Then submit the IP. When Kotak Neo approves it, you're immediately live.

Plans: Starter, Production ($49/month), Business, Enterprise. Starter is sufficient for testing and low-volume bots. Production covers serious strategies with higher request volume.

Latency Won't Affect Your Strategy

Shield adds roughly 10-50ms per request. HFT firms use NSE co-location. They don't deploy on PaaS platforms. If you're on Heroku or Railway, you're running daily, hourly, or minute-level strategies. The proxy latency is irrelevant.

The SEBI mandate is about authentication and identity verification. The IP check happens at connection establishment. It doesn't need to be fast. It needs to succeed.

Get Your Kotak Neo Bot Back Online

The enforcement deadline passed April 1, 2026. The trading API firewall is working exactly as Kotak Neo and SEBI intended.

Sign up for QuotaGuard Shield at quotaguard.com/products/pricing, then register the IP with Kotak Neo via their static IP registration portal. Also available as a Heroku add-on.