The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) announced a draft proposal for the service platform called MITRA, Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant, with the aim of providing help to investors in tracing their inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios. It is going to be a saviour for those who have lost track of their investments.
These folios typically have no transactions in the last 10 years investor initiated but still have unit balances. Such folios most probably crop when an investor forgets about their investments, demise happens without nominating their nominee, or fails to change basic details such as PAN or even email ID or address, which leaves the folios vulnerable to fraudulent activities in the case of being left unattended.
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What MITRA Targets
MITRA will be a centralized place where the investor can search and access information about his dormant mutual fund investment. Developed by Registrar and Transfer Agents such as CAMS and KFIN Technologies, the platform will have a searchable database of inactive and unclaimed folios across the mutual fund industry.
It will help investors identify otherwise overlooked investments and comply with updated norms of Know Your Customer. MITRA encourages investors to complete their KYC, reducing the number of non-compliant folios and establishing a safer financial ecosystem.
Key Features of MITRA
The main objective of MITRA is to provide a clear and reliable system for mutual fund investors. Investors can access the platform through links available on websites such as MF Central, AMCs, AMFI, Sebi, and the QRTAs. It will also act as a safety against fraudulent redemptions as it will ensure that the right claimants get the unclaimed funds.
Awareness Building
Sebi has further urged the need for disseminating awareness regarding the program. AMCs, RTAs, the Association of Mutual Funds in India, and mutual fund distributors have appealed to sensitise the investors about MITRA so that the investors as well as their family members would not miss their funds due to unclaimed or lost status.
Transparency
Inactive and unclaimed investments not only bring about risks for investors but also point out the lacunas within the financial ecosystem. MITRA offers a central solution by which Sebi can address such issues. Through the location and recovery of lost investments, this platform allows investors and their families to benefit from their financial assets.
MITRA is not just a tracing tool for investments but a step ahead toward a more transparent, fraud-resistant, and investor-friendly mutual fund system. It's a big step in safeguarding the interests of investors and boosting confidence in mutual fund investments.
