SEBI Brings Platform To Claim Forgotten Mutual Fund Folios

The market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, on Wednesday introduced MITRA, a platform to claim forgotten mutual fund folios.

The regulator observed that a lot of investors lose their mutual fund investments because they are made in a physical mode with few KYC details. The issue here is that in open-ended schemes, the investor has to reach out to their asset management company for the redemption of their investment, or it will continue perpetually.

A major reason behind unclaimed folios can be the death of a person or loss of PAN, email ID, or valid address.

"MITRA platform is developedby the RTAs to provide investors with a searchable database of inactive andunclaimed Mutual Fund folios at an industry-level which will empower the investors to identify the overlooked investments or any investments made by any other person for which they may be rightful legal claimant," the circular read.

The SEBI circular mentioned that the platform will be hosted by two Qualified Registrar and Transfer Agents (QRTAs)—CAMS and KFIN Technologies Limited.

The platform will allow investors to search for their inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios across the industry. It will be accessible via a link on the websites of MF Central, AMCs, AMFI, SEBI, and the two QRTAs.

A mutual fund folio will be classified as inactive if no financial or non-financial transactions have taken place in the last 10 years, but there is still a balance of units in the folio.

The purpose of listing such folios on MITRA is to encourage investors to rediscover their forgotten investments and update their KYC details. However, there will be no impact on those who are aware of their investments and wish to keep them as they are.