Invest in SIPs Online

From March, ECS (electronic clearing service) mandates used for doing Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) will be replaced by National Automated Clearing House (NACH) a new system of clearing. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has imple mented NACH. All new mutual fund SIPs will have to be regis tered using NACH

1. What is NACH OTM (one time mandate) in mutual funds?

NACH is a one time registration process which al lows an investor to do lumpsum SIP invest ments in mutual funds. By registering this man date, you will authorise the relevant bank (which is registered in your Folio) to debit a cer tain maximum amount per day , as per your choice (Say , upto `100,000 per day or even less) to wards investment in a mutual fund scheme of the fund house. This mandate can either be given for a fixed period (say one year) or perpetual till you cancel it. One mandate works for one folio in the fund house.

If you have SIPs in dif ferent fund houses, you have to fill separate NACH forms.

2. What is the benefit of NACH?

NACH cuts the registration time for a SIP from the current 30 days to 10 days. Once this mandate is registered an investor can invest offline without having to write a cheque or transferring money online via a payment gateway. Investors can make use of this payment mode for their Lump-sum Mutual Fund investments apart from SIPs in the same folio with the fundhouse. Realisation of funds from the investors account happens on T day which helps investors track their payments on time.

3. How does an investor register for NACH OTM?

Registration is just a one time process per Folio that you hold in a mutual fund scheme. All you need is to fill and submit the duly signed `OTM Form'. The signatures on the form should be as per your bank records because the form will be sent to your bank branch. Also attach a cheque copy or cancelled cheque which will help the fund house validate the bank account.

4. What details do I need to mention on the OTM Form?

Besides making a mention of regular and mandatory details like bank account number, bank name and branch, contact details, the new column to be mentioned here is the amount or daily limit that can be debited.

5. What will happen to my existing SIPs?

Your existing SIPs will continue to run till the time you have given an ECS mandate. Once the tenure or current ECS mandate ends, if you wish to renew the SIP , you will have to fill in a NACH form, for the same.