The British East India Company lost its monopoly on trade with India in 1813.
The change came through the Charter Act of 1813, which renewed the Company’s governing charter but ended its exclusive commercial privileges in India. Private British merchants could now trade with Indian markets, increasing Britain’s economic involvement in the subcontinent.
The Company did not lose every trading privilege immediately. It retained monopolies over the tea trade and trade with China until 1833. The 1813 Act therefore marked the end of its Indian trade monopoly, not the end of the Company itself. It continued to rule large parts of India as a political and administrative power.
This distinction causes a common mix-up: 1813 ended the Company’s Indian trade monopoly, while the Charter Act of 1833 ended its remaining commercial functions, and the Government of India Act 1858 transferred its governing authority to the British Crown. The 1813 Act also permitted Christian missionaries to work in India and allocated funds for education.