In a bid to woo distributors, NSE has waived off the refundable deposit for registering on NMF II platform. So far, Individual/Proprietorship/Partnership Firm/LLP/Trust/Society/HUF/) were paying Rs 15,000 and corporates paid Rs 25,000 as refundable deposit for registering on NMF II platform.
However, a one-time non-refundable membership registration fee of Rs. 2,000 (plus applicable taxes) will be applicable to avail membership of NMF II platform from September 11, 2018. Further, in order to encourage distributors to use digital platforms for mutual fund transactions, this membership registration fee of Rs. 2,000 is waived off till 10 September 2018.
NSE MF II currently has 3,000 active distributors using its platform. On an average, it sees 60,000 transactions every day.
NSE’s competitor BSE StAR MF had waived off the refundable deposit from 2015. BSE too charges a non-refundable fee of Rs 2,000 for empaneling distributors. Currently, BSE has a userbase of 10,000 distributors.
Both NSE and BSE have been introducing new features to improvise their platforms. Recently, BSE has tied up with Axis Bank while NSE has collaborated with HDFC Bank for cheque collection services. This means, distributors can deposit client cheques in any of these bank branches instead of submitting them at R&T offices.
Exchange platforms have emerged as a powerful medium for distributors to reduce paperwork and expand their geographical reach. Mutual Fund Utility is another platform which is used by a lot of distributors to execute client transactions.
