Taxmann’s Analysis | MITRA Platform – Easily Trace and Reclaim Inactive Mutual Fund Folios

MITRA (Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant) is a user-friendly solution developed by SEBI, collaborating with industry leaders like CAMS and KFIN, to help investors trace and reclaim inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios. Centralising investment data enables investors, nominees, and legal heirs to quickly identify forgotten investments and update their KYC details, enhancing financial transparency and reducing fraud risks.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Background and Rationale
3. What is the MITRA Platform?
4. Key Features of the MITRA Platform
5. Classification of Inactive Mutual Fund Folios
6. Hosting and Cyber Security Framework of MITRA
7. Awareness Regarding MITRA Platform
8. Role of ‘Unit Holder Protection Committee’ (UHPC) in Strengthening Investor Protection
9. Conclusion

1. Introduction

In a significant move to protect investor interests and enhance financial transparency, SEBI vide Circular dated February 12, 2025, has launched the MITRA platform, a user-friendly solution designed to help investors track and reclaim inactive and unclaimed Mutual Fund folios[1]. Developed by Computer Age Management Services Limited (CAMS) and KFIN Technologies Limited, MITRA provides a centralised search mechanism enabling investors, nominees and legal heirs to identify forgotten investments and update KYC details. By bridging the gap between investors and their rightful holdings, the platform strengthens security, minimises fraud risks, and ensures greater transparency in the mutual fund ecosystem.

2. Background and Rationale

Mutual Fund investors sometimes lose track of their investments, especially those made in physical form with minimal KYC details. Investments in open-ended growth option mutual fund schemes may remain invested indefinitely unless the investor/his nominee/legal heir approaches the concerned AMC for redemption, transfer or transmission.

Further, the absence of PAN, email ID, or valid address may prevent these MF folios from appearing in the unitholder’s Consolidated Account Statement. Such inactive folios become susceptible to fraudulent redemptions, highlighting the need for a strong mechanism to trace and secure these investments. Thus, MITRA aims to address this issue by providing investors with a user-friendly search platform.

3. What is the MITRA Platform?

The Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant (MITRA) is a platform to help investors recover their inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios. It enables investors, nominees, and legal heirs to trace investments that may have been forgotten due to incomplete KYC details or lack of regular monitoring. By providing a user-friendly mechanism, MITRA ensures easy access to unclaimed investments while safeguarding them from potential fraud.

4. Key Features of the MITRA Platform

The MITRA platform, developed by Registrar and Transfer Agents (RTAs), provides investors with a centralised database of inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios across the industry. It serves multiple purposes that are as follows –

• Identification of Unclaimed Investments – MITRA enables investors to discover unclaimed or forgotten investments, whether made by them or on their behalf. This tool helps ensure that no investment goes unnoticed, providing an opportunity to track potential investments.
• Encouragement for KYC Compliance – MITRA encourages investors to update their Know Your Customer (KYC) details as per current norms. This ensures that investors’ records remain current, minimising the risk of non-compliance with legal requirements.
• Reduction of Unclaimed Folios – MITRA plays a key role in minimising the number of unclaimed mutual fund folios by offering a streamlined process for identifying and consolidating them. This helps reduce the burden of unclaimed funds and enhances the overall efficiency of the mutual fund sector.
• Enhanced Transparency – MITRA boosts transparency by providing transparent and centralised data on mutual fund investments. This contributes to a more transparent and efficient financial ecosystem, benefitting investors and institutions through better accessibility to important information.
• Fraud Risk Mitigation – MITRA actively promotes the implementation of measures designed to reduce or prevent fraud-related risks. By ensuring that all investments are tracked and verified, the platform helps to safeguard against potential fraudulent activities, offering greater protection to investors.

5. Classification of Inactive Mutual Fund Folios

A mutual fund folio is classified as inactive if there have been no investor-initiated transactions, either financial or non-financial, in the last 10 years. Yet, a unit balance remains in the account.

Inactive folios include cases where investors have remained invested in an open-ended scheme but either chose not to redeem or lost track of their investments. There is no impact on folios appearing in the platform where the unitholder is aware of their investment and has intentionally chosen to remain invested. MITRA will list such folios to encourage rightful owners to claim their investments and update KYC records.

6. Hosting and Cyber Security Framework of MITRA

The MITRA platform will be hosted jointly by two Qualified RTAs (QRTAs), Computer Age Management Services Limited (CAMS) and KFIN Technologies Limited, who will act as agents of asset management companies (AMCs). The platform will be accessible through MF Central, AMCs, the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) websites, the two QRTAs, and SEBI.

To ensure security, MITRA will adhere to SEBI’s Cyber Resilience framework set in the Master Circular on Mutual Funds dated June 27, 2024. The QRTAs will be responsible for system audits, cybersecurity audits and compliance with Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) guidelines.

7. Awareness Regarding MITRA Platform

SEBI has instructed AMCs, QRTAs, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), and mutual fund distributors to promote awareness of MITRA among investors. The platform must be operational within 15 working days of the issuance of the Circular. A beta version will be launched for 2 months for testing and refinements.

8. Role of ‘Unit Holder Protection Committee’ (UHPC) in Strengthening Investor Protection

To strengthen investor protection, SEBI has updated the responsibilities of the ‘Unit Holder Protection Committee’ (UHPC) under its Master Circular on Mutual Funds dated June 27, 2024. The UHPC will now review inactive folios and unclaimed dividend and redemption amounts, ensuring that AMCs take necessary measures to reduce the quantum of unclaimed funds. Also, AMCs, through their RTAs, must provide the MITRA platform for investors to trace inactive and unclaimed Mutual Fund folios.

9. Conclusion

The introduction of the MITRA platform marks a significant step toward enhancing investor protection and financial transparency in the mutual fund industry. By enabling investors to trace inactive and unclaimed folios while encouraging KYC compliance, MITRA helps to safeguard investments from fraud and mismanagement. With SEBI’s proactive measures and industry-wide participation, the platform is set to streamline the reclaiming of forgotten investments, ultimately strengthening investor confidence in mutual funds.

Also, MITRA promotes a more efficient, organised system that reduces the risk of overlooked investments and fosters trust and accountability within the financial ecosystem. As the platform evolves, it has the potential to create a more secure and transparent environment for investors, encouraging greater participation in the mutual fund industry.

[1] Circular No. SEBI/HO/IMD/IMD-SEC-3/P/CIR/2025/15, Dated: 12-2-2025