According to ET, the SEBI Mutual Fund Panel has suggested a transaction charge of Rs. 100 per transaction instead of an entry load:
The committee headed by Prashant Saran , member of the board at the markets regulator, last week nearly concluded that a Rs 100 transaction fee could be imposed on investors for every new investment that will help distributors cover costs
But quite interestingly:
"The committee turned down industry body Association of Mutual Funds in India’s suggestion to reintroduce entry loads on specific funds," said a person privy to the discussions. "Entry load was no longer an option."
While I’m happy to pay Rs. 100 per transaction, I will mostly likely go direct anyhow and avoid the fee altogether (and why should I pay? I’m a registered AMFI advisor myself!)
Distributors have costs per transaction – the petrol to the nearest CAMS office, dropping of cheques and what not. That might be covered. But for everything else, the current system affords them decent loads already; most equity products pay upto 1.5% upfront and then 0.5% trail every year.
