Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant (MITRA)

News: Recently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched MITRA (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant).

About Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant (MITRA)

• It is a new digital platform designed to help investors trace and reclaim their inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios. 
• Aim: This initiative aims to address the growing concern of investors losing track of their mutual fund investments due to outdated contact details, lack of awareness, or forgotten investments over time.
• Objective of MITRA: The primary goal of MITRA is to empower investors by providing an industry-level searchable database that allows them to:
  • Identify inactive and unclaimed folios associated with their investments.
  • Trace forgotten or overlooked mutual fund investments.
  • Verify investments made in their name by others for which they may be the rightful legal claimants.
  • Encourage investors to update their KYC (Know Your Customer) information as per current norms.

Key Features of MITRA:

1. Industry-Wide Database: Consolidates inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios across different fund houses.
2. User-Friendly Search Tool: Investors can easily search for their investments by entering details such as PAN or other identification data.
3. KYC Updation Support: Assists investors in updating their KYC details, thereby ensuring that their folios remain active and secure.
4. Legal Claims: Helps investors and legal heirs identify investments to which they may be rightful claimants.
5. Reducing Inactive Folios: Encourages investors to reactivate their folios, reducing the number of unclaimed and inactive accounts in the mutual fund industry.