“To promote financial inclusion, inculcate the habit of systematic saving and facilitate investment of small savings by investors new to the mutual fund space,” Sebi said in a discussion paper on Wednesday.
An investor would be allowed to make only three small ticket SIPs at discounted costs, one each in up to three asset management companies(AMCs).
Each investor would have to commit for five years under the small ticket SIP scheme.
However, if the investor desires to stop SIP or withdraw the SIP investment prematurely, there would be no restriction on it, Sebi said. Such investments can only be made through the national automated clearing house and unified payment interface.
Further, fund houses can offer small ticket SIPs only under growth option of the plan and in any scheme except debt, sectoral and thematic schemes, small-cap and mid-cap schemes under equity category. “While the number of investors participating in mutual funds have grown steadily over the years, there is a considerable opportunity for increasing the reach of the mutual funds to all sections of the society, to enable every individual to have access to this financial product,” Sebi said. Industry participants involved in the mutual fund space have agreed to offer discounted rates to enable faster break-even for AMCs on cost incurred towards these investments, it said.