How mutual fund investors can seek redressal for their complaints?

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Every service industry has to be an investor centric especially when it comes to banks, financial institutions, insurance and mutual funds. That said, in any service industry complaints are unavoidable; regardless of how hard or how good your services are, no firm can completely satisfy its investors.

As an investor, if you are dissatisfied with the services provided by your asset management company (AMC), you may approach the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Further due to the presence of Sebi and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), investing in mutual funds has become a risk-free proposition. SEBI imposes severe penalties on fund houses and other organisations participating in mutual funds that are proven to have irregularities.

Let’s take at various ways you can file a complaint:

> If you have a complaint regarding your mutual fund investments, the first thing to do it to reach out to the fund house or fund distributor. Every mutual fund company has customer care through which investors can raise concerns.

You can call or email them, as per your comfort. Alternatively, you can get in touch with your fund distributor or agent through whom you invested in the mutual fund. In most cases, either one of these methods would be enough to resolve your issue.

> In some instances, fund houses may be unable to provide investors with objective advice. It is normal for a mutual fund business to prioritise self-protection. This is why all mutual fund companies are regulated by the Sebi which has created SCORES, an abbreviation for Sebi Complaints Redress System, to aid investors in resolving their complaints.

What is SCORES?

SCORES is an online complaint management system available on the Sebi website. It enables you to submit complaints, send reminders, and track the status of existing complaints. To begin, you must complete the required information in the appropriate columns in order to register and create an account. You will be emailed the login credentials.

Verify your registration and log into it to submit your complaint. Fill in as many details as possible so that Sebi will have an easier time resolving your complaint. You’ll find a variety of complaint types under mutual fund.

Among them include the failure to pay dividends on time, non-compliance with the claimed attributes, delaying the redemption process, and a lack of patience. If your concern falls into one of the above categories, select it.

You’ll find a variety of complaint types under mutual fund. Among them include the failure to pay dividends on time, non-compliance with the claimed attributes, delaying the redemption process, and a lack of patience. If your concern falls into one of the above categories, select it.

Otherwise, choose ‘Others’. You can manually type the complaint in this column (please keep it less than 1,000 characters). If this amount of space is insufficient, you can upload documents (proofs of an unsatisfactory response from the fund house or complaint letter). A copy of the complaint is sent to the fund house, and Sebi will monitor how the AMC resolves your complaint and how long it takes.

They will email you a complaint registration number when you file the complaint so that you can follow up. They resolve grievances in no more than 30 days. Log in to your account to check the status of your complaint. Your registration number is shown on the account page. To learn the status of your complaint, click on ‘View Complaint Status’. Sebi will close a complaint only if it is resolved satisfactorily.

In a nutshell, this is the process by which mutual fund investors can get their issues addressed. However, remember to contact the fund company or distributor first before contacting Sebi.