Have you linked your Aadhaar with your MF investments? If you have not initiated the process yet, you may be in for trouble if you want to redeem your units next month. The countdown has started.

With no official confirmation on extension of the deadline and just three weeks left to comply with the mandatory requirement (of linking Aadhaar with MF folios), investors are more worried about the sums invested and prefer to defer investing in any fund now, say individual financial advisors (IFAs).

Instead of offering investment advisory services, IFAs aver that they are now knocking on their clients’ doors to ensure that they comply with the government’s mandate, lest their accounts become inoperational after December 31

This fear psychosis amongst investors, IFAs say, is impacting their business. “That’s not all. We have. over the last fortnight, been servicing clients, helping them seed their investments with Aadhaar. A good number of clients have reverted back to us stating that the system response has been slow and they were unable to link the folios,” said an MF advisor, preferring anonymity.

Where comes the need?

A cross-section of IFAs, especially those who have been offering investment management services for more than two decades, questioned the need for linking such investments with Aadhar when it is already linked to the Permanent Account Number (PAN) of the individual. “We cannot understand the logic behind insisting on linking it with Aadhaar,” said another, stating that he services around 600 clients and the folios could run to several thousands.

By and large, the IFAs felt that the time at their disposal is too short to ensure that their clients are not inconvenienced and left in the lurch.

“While the government has fixed the deadline, MF registrars and transfer agents such as CAMS and Karvy or even Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services are still in the process of updating their software and providing a column to reflect the seeding online,” a financial advisor said.

A visit to these offices in the city confirmed this information. While stating that investors either came in person to submit the request form or sent it through their IFAs, the staff at the centre here said: “The updation status cannot be ascertained online yet. Our head office is on the job.”

Meanwhile, requests continue to pour in, considering the surge in MF investments in recent years.

15% seeding till date

While we could not confirm the numbers that have already linked Aadhaar with their MF folios, sources at transfer agent offices put it at 10-15 per cent till date.

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