KYC is now compulsory!
Nothing original in this post! Just doing a cut n paste of an email that I just received….
“As you are aware that w.e.f 1st January 2011, KYC is mandatory for all investors, irrespective of amount of investment.
Please find the operational guidelines as well as revised guidelines for Micro SIP.
I) KYC will be mandatory for the following trxn
a) New / Additional Purchases.
b) Switch Transactions
c) New SIP Registrations (including SIP related products) received from effective date.
d) New STP Registrations (including STP related products like trigger facilities) received from effective date.
e) New DTP Registrations (including DTP related products) received from effective date.
II) KYC will not be mandatory for the certain nature of transactions and type of clients
a) Micro SIPs upto Rs. 50,000 per year per investor
Documents required:
1) Standard specified identification instruments like Voter ID card, Government/Defense ID card, Card of Reputed employer, Driving License, Passport in lieu of PAN.
2) Proof of address copy, where photo identification documents contains the address of the investor, a separate proof of address is not required.
Supporting documents copy shall be self attested by the investor / attested by the ARN holder mentioning the ARN number or attested by any competent authority.
b) Investments from Investors residing in Sikkim.
Documents required:
Proof of address of Sikkim state and application form should mention the same address.
Address proof shall be self attested by the investor / attested by the ARN holder mentioning the ARN number or attested by any competent authority.
c) Existing SIP / STP / DTP registrations (and similar facilities) including those received till December 31, 2010
d) Dividend reinvestment transactions of any amount. ”
Do not be surprised if suddenly you are told that even for withdrawing you need to be KYC compliant…our regulators are capable of springing such surprises (or shocks?) …so you take care!
Jit
Hello Subra, One question
Does it mean a existing SIP of 1000Rs pm will not be cancelled on 01st Jan 2010.
Is the KYC mandatory only for the new SIP registrations?
subra
existing SIPs continue..but do not take a chance with the government as the other player. If it is not too much of an issue, get it done – better than finding out later on that for withdrawal (when you are in a hurry) suddenly KYC is made a requirement 🙂 that can be painful.
sk
How can an NRI apply for KYC?
Venshu
Subra and sk,
I am an NRI living in Bahrain. When I opened my 3 in 1 investment account with ICICI Bank’s local branch in Bahrain 2 years back, the Bank got my KYC done without me having to visit India. Recently, a colleague of mine opened his Demat account with BBK / Geojit(BBK – Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait has retail branches in India), his KYC was also done through the Bank.
subra
actually the processing of the application is done in Mumbai. However an Indian mutual fund or bank can always verify the original document at the place of your stay …and kyc can be done. Not sure what happens if you do not have a pancard 🙂
Venshu
You are right Subra. The Bank in Bahrain sent my papers to India to get he KYC process completed. The point is, it was a painless process for me and all I had to do was sign the papers (of course after reading the papers properly!!) and provide address proof and Pan card copy.
For NRIs who do not have PAN Card there are at least three options:
The first option is to get the PAN card by applying on line – details are available on this webpage: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/pan/index.html
PAN Card will be mailed to the country of residence.
Second option (This coould be available only in the Gulf Countries): There are agents out here who will have the PAN application, help fill it up and get the same processed in India. The charges are in the region of BHD 10/- (equivalent to Rs. 1200/-)
Third option: Indian Banks (out here in Gulf) viz. ICICI Bank, SBI, BOB etc. will help to get the paperwork done and get the PAN Card issued.