You can escalate a mutual fund complaint to Sebi

As a mutual fund investor, it is good to know how to get your complaints addressed. There are two levels of redressal available: one with the mutual fund itself and at the next stage with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

The first step would be to use the redressal mechanism of the concerned mutual fund for resolution. The easiest way to proceed is contact the mutual fund on the designated helpline. All communication from the mutual fund and its website have the contact details.

Some fund houses have an online complaint registration form that you need to fill up and submit. You will need the folio number to identify yourself as an investor and provide the registered contact details such as mobile number and email address to receive a response.

If the complaint is not redressed within a reasonable time, you can reach out to the investor relations officer of the mutual fund. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved by the grievance redressal team, you can escalate the issue to the head of customer service at the mutual fund and then, if required, to the president, CEO or managing director.

If you are not comfortable with online methods, walk into the office of the mutual fund closest to you or any of the investor service centers. The customer service officials can help resolve a matter or help you register it online.

If your complaint is not resolved or you are dissatisfied with the solution at the fund house level, you can approach Sebi Complaints Redressal System or SCORES, the regulator’s investor grievance mechanism for all entities regulated by it, including mutual funds.

To file a complain online on SCORES, you have to register on the website by providing your name, address, PAN and mobile number. After you register, select the option to make a complaint and give the details as prompted. This includes selecting the category, namely mutual funds, and give information of the complaint already registered with the mutual fund such as date and the address to which it was sent. If you have not already approached the fund house, you need to give reasons for not doing so. Select the nature of complaint from the options given or select “other” and provide relevant information in the space provided. You can also upload a supporting document, up to 2MB of size in PDF format, for each nature of complaint. A registration number is assigned to each complaint to help you follow up.

Once a complaint is registered, the matter is forwarded to the concerned fund house for resolution. The fund house is required to give you a written reply and file an action taken report on SCORES within 30 days. SCORES allows you to track the progress of your complaint and send reminders.

You can register your dissatisfaction with the resolution provided by clicking on the “unsatisfied” icon by giving reasons for the dissatisfaction. This has to be done within 15 days from the date of closure of the complaint. The complaint is then forwarded to the supervisory officer for scrutiny. If the resolution provided by SCORES is also not satisfactory, you should seek legal remedy.