Registrar and transfer agency

49 terms · each links to a full explanation with a worked example and the exam traps

Account AggregatorAn RBI-regulated NBFC that retrieves a customer's financial information from Financial Information Providers — including AMCs through their RTAs — and passes it on only with the customer's explicit electronic consent.
Beneficial Owner Master RegisterThe RTA's own database of every beneficial owner's holding details, built from the depository's downloads and refreshed for every corporate action — distinct from the beneficial owner it records.
Change of addressThe investor service request to update the address on a folio — signed by the first named holder, backed by PAN and a fresh address proof, and confirmed to both the old and the new address.
Change of bank detailsThe service request to update the bank account on a physical folio: signed by the first holder as per specimen, supported by an original cancelled cheque bearing the holder's name, processed within 15 days.
Change of nameThe non-financial request by which an investor updates the name on a mutual fund folio — for marriage, divorce or a corrected spelling — with documents that match the reason and a bank account already updated first.
Cheque Truncation SystemAn RBI system, started in 2010, in which the physical cheque stops at the presenting bank and an electronic image travels to the drawee bank for payment, cutting clearing time, transit cost and delay.
Collecting bankersThe banks a mutual fund scheme appoints to collect investors' payments into its collection accounts, send back reverse feeds of cleared and bounced instruments, and confirm NFO collections before allotment.
Consolidated Account StatementA single statement showing an investor's transactions and holdings across every scheme of every mutual fund in India, linked by PAN and issued monthly where there has been a transaction.
Cut-off timeThe SEBI-prescribed clock time that, read together with the time stamp on the request, decides which day's NAV a mutual fund transaction is priced at.
Deletion of nameRemoving a deceased joint holder's name from a demat account so the surviving holders can continue the same account, instead of opening a new one, provided the request reaches the DP within 365 days of death.
Demand draftsThe payment instrument mutual funds accept and reimburse up to the limit stated in the offer document, for investors in locations with no branch or Investor Service Centre nearby.
DigiLockerSEBI's digital-locker push to cut unclaimed mutual fund assets — storing account statements so a registered nominee gets an alert on the investor's demise, without replacing the folio's own nominee.
E-votingCasting a shareholder vote electronically instead of by postal ballot — the RTA sets up the platform, sends notices 25 days ahead by post or 21 by email, and closes the voting site at 5 p.m. the day before the AGM.
E-walletsDigital wallets that may be used to buy mutual fund units within a Rs 50,000 umbrella limit shared with cash, and only with money loaded by cash, debit card or net banking — never credit card or cash back.
Family Settlement DeedA deed dividing a deceased investor's property among family, accepted by a DP as a faster transmission route for securities up to Rs 15 lakh when a Will or succession certificate is unavailable.
Folio numberThe unique account number a fund house allots to an investor, under which the registrar holds that investor's units across every scheme of the fund, along with the bank mandate, address and signature.
Form ISR-1SEBI's standard form for registering or updating PAN and KYC details on physically held securities — since 1 January 2022, no other RTA service request is processed until it is on file.
Individual investorsInvestors who buy mutual fund units for themselves or their family — resident adults, minors through a guardian, HUFs, NRIs/PIOs and eligible foreign nationals — as distinct from institutions.
Institutional investorsOrganisations rather than individuals that invest in mutual funds — companies, partnership firms, associations of persons, societies and trusts, banks and FIs, and FPIs — each acting through authorised signatories.
Instrument of transferThe stamped deed (Form SH-4) signed by transferor and transferee to transfer physical securities — valid only if lodged within 60 days of execution; since April 2019 transfers need demat.
Letter of ConfirmationThe letter an RTA issues instead of a physical certificate after processing a duplicate, transmission, split or similar request — valid for 120 days, within which the holder must demat the shares through a DP.
MFCentralA unified digital portal built by CAMS and KFintech under SEBI mandate, giving investors a single-window, consolidated view of all their mutual fund holdings and letting them place service requests across AMCs.
Minor becoming majorThe change of status in a folio held in a minor's name when the minor turns 18 — the new major completes PAN, KYC and bank updates, and no transactions are allowed until the AMC's records show the change.
NEFTNational Electronic Funds Transfer — a nation-wide system that moves money between bank accounts in batches, round the clock, with no RBI-imposed amount limit; a standard route for mutual fund purchases and pay-outs.
Net worth requirementThe minimum capital adequacy an applicant must hold to be registered as a Registrar and Transfer Agent with SEBI — not less than Rs 50 lakh, maintained throughout the life of the certificate.
NIGOA transaction the registrar has flagged as "Not in Good Order" because the application and the money do not reconcile or the paperwork is defective — units are not issued until it is fixed.
Non-financial transactionsA request that changes a mutual fund folio's records — address, bank details, nominee, name — without moving any money or touching the NAV, processed by the RTA on its own SEBI-mandated timetable.
NPCIThe National Payments Corporation of India — the umbrella body for retail payments and settlement, set up with RBI and IBA support, which runs NACH and the account validation used to verify investors' bank accounts.
NRI investment accountsThe NRE and NRO bank accounts through which an NRI must invest in an Indian mutual fund — one repatriable, one not — along with the extra KYC documents an NRI has to provide.
Operating cycleThe sequence of steps, from an investor's transaction reaching the Official Point of Acceptance to a new NAV being applied to it, that moves a purchase or redemption through the RTA and AMC systems each day.
PAN updationThe non-financial transaction by which an investor adds or corrects the PAN on a mutual fund folio, validated against the Income Tax database and required before any redemption can go through.
Qualified RTAA registrar servicing more than two crore folios — treated by SEBI as a Critical Infrastructure Institution and held to enhanced monitoring, reporting and business continuity requirements.
Registered bank accountsThe bank accounts an investor links to a mutual fund folio for pay-outs — up to 5 for an individual and 10 for a non-individual — with one marked as the default for redemption proceeds.
Register of Destroyed CertificatesThe RTA's record of every physical share certificate it has shredded after dematerialisation — the workbook requires the entry but does not state how long the certificates must be kept before destruction.
Registrar and Transfer AgentThe SEBI-registered agency that keeps the investor records of a mutual fund — processing purchases and redemptions, updating folios and unit capital, and issuing account statements.
Registrar to an issueA SEBI-registered intermediary that, for an issuer, collects applications, keeps records of applications and money, and helps fix the basis of allotment and send out allotments and refunds.
Registration feesThe fee schedule an RTA pays SEBI to be registered and to stay registered — a non-refundable Rs 20,000 application fee, a Rs 6 lakh grant fee, and a Rs 2.70 lakh renewal fee every 3 years from the sixth year.
RTA inter-operable platformA single, user-friendly platform built jointly by all RTAs for mutual fund transactions, service requests, complaints and investment reports across fund houses — the workbook gives no rupee figure for it.
RTGSReal Time Gross Settlement — electronic transfer in which funds move from one bank to another immediately, used for transactions above Rs 2 lakh with no upper ceiling.
Share transfer agentThe intermediary that keeps a body corporate's register of security holders and handles transfers and redemptions — a SEBI-registered outside agency, or the company's own department once its holder count passes one lakh.
Special re-lodgement windowA one-time SEBI window reopening the re-lodgement of pre-2019 physical transfer deeds returned for deficiency — six months from 7 July 2025, later extended a further year to 4 February 2027.
Statement of AccountsThe registrar's proof of investment for a mutual fund folio, showing amount, price and units for each transaction and, from the second one, the balance units and their current value.
Stop transferA freeze an RTA marks on physical securities reported lost, or under a court restraining order, so they cannot change hands — lifted if no FIR arrives within 21 days of the notice of loss.
T-30 and B-30SEBI's split of mutual fund inflows into the top 30 cities by AUM (T-30) and everywhere beyond them (B-30), used to pay higher distribution incentives for B-30 inflows — tagged by the RTA from the investor's PIN code.
Third-party chequeA payment for a mutual fund investment drawn from a bank account of which the first holder is not an account holder — not acceptable, and the reason registrars run third-party verification on every subscription.
Transaction slipThe short form an existing investor uses instead of a full application — it carries the folio number, so the registrar can process a purchase, redemption, switch or profile change without re-keying the investor.
Transmission of unitsThe transfer of mutual fund units after a unit holder dies — to the surviving joint holder, the registered nominee or a legal heir — with documents that depend on who claims and how much is at stake.
Tripartite agreementThe agreement signed by the depository, the issuer and the issuer's R&T Agent before that issuer's securities can be admitted for dematerialisation — it is the contract that makes a scrip demat-eligible.
Two-factor authenticationThe requirement that online mutual fund subscriptions and redemptions be authenticated by two factors, one of them an OTP sent to the email or phone registered with the AMC — signature does the job offline.