BENGALURU: Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will soon issue norms allowing e-commerce platforms to sell mutual fund products online, among other measures, to boost the Mutual Fund industry. This means you could soon buy into schemes of a Franklin Templeton or ICICI Prudential mutual fund just the way you purchase a Samsung mobile online, according to indiatimes.com.

The SEBI is also planning to implement know-your-client (KYC) procedure online, to simplify the process for mutual fund investors and attract wider number of customers. The new set of norms for mutual fund distribution are being worked on and will be able to bring about an entirely new paradigm in distribution of mutual fund products.

Currently, investors can buy MF directly from fund houses without paying any commission or through third-party distributors and financial advisers, who charge a fee of up to 1 percent. While the plan would make it cheaper to purchase from the ecommerce platforms than from intermediaries, Sebi is working also on other steps to make the process hassle-free. It will make the KYC process and digital transactions simpler and inexpensive as these are a hurdle to online sale of financial products.

Her, the plan is to allow Aadhaar-linked digital KYC, which the central bank and Sebi have been considering for some time but has yet to be implemented. Mis-selling provisions, which are in place to prevent agents and distributors from misleading unsuspecting customers about the characteristics of products, too are unlikely to come in the way of fund sales through ecommerce platforms.

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