Financial year ending is just a few days away. The taxpayers must be rushing towards completing certain financial tasks before the deadline of March 31. Along with the tax planning purpose, the date this time is also important for your mutual fund investments. As per SEBI guidelines, you need to complete certain tasks before March 31, 2023, failing which either your mutual fund folios shall be frozen or your mutual fund investments thereafter stopped. Here is the list of tasks and guidance towards its completion.

Update PAN/PEKRN

AMFI has recently notified that individuals whose Permanent Account Number (PAN) is not linked to their mutual fund folios will not be able to carry any investments (SIP or lumpsum) from April 1, 2023. However, SEBI has provided an exemption from this requirement for micro financial products which, in this case, is mutual fund investments up to ₹50,000 per year. Such investors can be allotted PAN-exempt KYC Reference Number (PEKRN) by providing alternate identity proof in lieu of PAN.

To update the PAN, you can visit CAMS  Web site and furnish details such as folio number and PAN, or you can also do the same via the respective AMCs’ Web site. One can also do the same by visiting the nearest office of the AMC, and submit the PAN details along with a photocopy of the PAN card.

Link Aadhaar-PAN

Investors must link their PAN with Aadhaar before March 31, 2023, as per the Income Tax Department circular. If PAN holders don’t link their PAN with their Aadhaar by the deadline their PAN will become inoperative from April 1, 2023, and hence their KYC status becomes void. Without PAN-Aadhaar linkage, you won’t be able to carry out mutual fund transactions such as additional purchase, fresh purchase and fresh SIPs. Further, it can also hamper your investment plans other than MFs.

To link your PAN with your Aadhaar Card, you need to go to the income tax e-filing portal. Here, you can complete the linking process by giving your PAN and Aadhaar details. If you don’t want to take the online route, you can also visit the PAN centres in your locality physically. You can get the list of PAN centres here.

Nomination

As per the SEBI circular dated June 15, 2022, all mutual funds investors which made investment in mutual funds before August 2022, need to furnish nominee details for their folios by March 31, 2023. If the investor does not wish to have a nominee for their mutual fund folio, he/she needs to give a declaration for the same by the said date. Failing this deadline will lead to their accounts being frozen for debits and investors will not be able to redeem their investments.

You can complete the process online by visiting CAMS and Kfintech web sites. Further, investors with Common Account Number (CAN) can complete the process through MF Utilities or they can do the same via MFCentral too. This process is done through two-factor authentication, where you can validate your nominee details with the help of a one-time password (OTP). If the folio is held jointly, then each investor needs to validate. Separate OTPs will be sent on mobile phone or e-mail.

You can also fill the physical form with wet signature and submit the same to either Registrar and Transfer Agents or to the respective fund houses.

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