The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has launched a digital platform called Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant (Mitra) to help track investments that may have been lost, unclaimed, or have become inactive owing to the demise of the original investor or due to outdated know your customer (KYC) details.
In a circular released on February 12, Sebi stated, “An inactive folio shall be defined as a Mutual Fund Folio(s) where no investor-initiated transaction/s (financial and non-financial) have taken place in the last 10 years, but unit balance is available.”
Moreover, in the absence of a PAN, or a valid email, a mutual fund may not appear in the unitholder’s consolidated account statement.
“Due to non-availability of PAN, email ID or valid address, it is also possible that these MF portfolios may not appear in the unitholder’s consolidated account statement. Thus, inactivity in Mutual Fund folios could be on account of the investor losing track of his/her investment, demise etc. Such inactive folios may become susceptible to fraudulent redemptions,” mentioned Sebi.
Hence, with millions of such unclaimed folios, the Mitra platform aims to simplify the process of finding and reclaiming lost mutual fund investments.
Launched on February 21, 2025, the platform allows up to 25 search attempts per user, thus making it easier for people to reclaim their money.
The following are the benefits of Mitra:
The Mitra platform enables investors to find forgotten investments or claim funds that legally belong to them.
The platform also encourages KYC compliance and reduces non-KYC folios.
It incorporates fraud prevention measures, ensuring safe and secure investment recovery and enhancing overall financial transparency.