SEBI launches MITRA to help investors trace inactive mutual fund folios

Securities and Exchange Bank of India (SEBI) on Wednesday introduced a new digital platform, MITRA, to assist investors in tracking and reclaiming inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios.

The objective of the platform, Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant, is to encourage investors to search for forgotten MF investments and update KYC as per the current norms.

In a circular, SEBI said the platform addresses a growing concern wherein investors, over time, lose track of their mutual fund investments due to lack of updated contact information, or unawareness of investments made in their name.

Such inactive folios may become susceptible to fraudulent redemptions, it added.

"In order to address the concerns, MITRA platform is developed by the RTAs to provide investors with a searchable database of inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios at an industry-level which will empower the investors," the regulator said.

According to the circular, MITRA will allow investors to identify the overlooked investments or any investments made by any other person for which he/she may be rightful legal claimant and also encourage them to do KYC as per the current norms thus reducing the number of non-KYC compliant folios.

The MITRA platform will also lead to reduction in the unclaimed mutual fund folios, it said.

The criteria for classifying a folio as inactive include an absence of investor-initiated transactions, financial or non-financial, for a period of ten years, despite having a unit balance.

SEBI has also revised the mandate of the Unit Holder Protection Committee (UHPC) under Mutual Funds rules. The UHPC will now be responsible for reviewing inactive folios along with unclaimed dividends and redemptions, ensuring proactive steps are taken to reduce such cases.

The capital markets regulator has directed all stakeholders, including AMCs, RTAs, RIAs, AMFI, and mutual fund distributors, to create awareness about this initiative amongst the investors.