How to apply for AMFI Registration & obtain ARN or EUIN

Once a candidate has cleared the NISM Series V-A: MFD Certification Examination (or attended the one-day NISM Series V-A - CPE program, he/she needs to apply for AMFI Registration and obtain ARN or EUIN (as the case may be) by paying the applicable registration fees.

AMFI has engaged the services of Computer Age Management Services Ltd. (CAMS) to carry out AMFI the end-to-end activities w.r.t. granting ARN / EUIN and renewal thereof.

To apply for ARN/EUIN , please visit https://www.amfiindia.com/distributor and click on “Online Registration” and follow the steps mentioned therein. Please note that to apply for ARN /EUIN online, the candidate needs to mandatorily have (i) PAN and (ii) Aadhaar

ARN and EUIN is a unique number permanent identity number allotted to an individual or an entity based on / linked to the individual’s/entity’s PAN and is non-transferable.

Criteria & Documents required for applying for ARN:

• Individual applicant should be at least 18 years of age, and should have a valid NISM certificate for having passed NISM Series V- A: MFD Certification Examination, and also provide PAN and Aadhaar to complete the KYD and registration process.
• A non-individual entity applying for ARN should have at least one employee who has passed the above mentioned NISM examination and valid EUIN, to be eligible for allotment of the ARN. There are various documents required for different categories of the non-individual distributors, besides fulfilment of KYD by providing the PAN and Aadhaar of the designated officials/authorised person(s).
• For documents required and the fees applicable for various categories of distributors, please check ARN-EUIN Registration Fee Structure Documents required for various categories of distributors

Notes:

1. Individual MFDs are allotted EUIN along with the ARN automatically by default (without having to apply for EUIN separately and without any additional charges).
2. The EUIN issued to an employee of a MFD is a unique /permanent identity number and would remain unchanged even if a person changes employment or quits a job and decides to be an independent MF distributor.
3. In case of change of employment, the employee is required to submit a duly filled in prescribed Form for mapping EUIN to the ARN of the new employer, along with a copy of relieving letter issued by previous employer.

KYD Process

All mutual fund distributors are required to complete “Know Your Distributor” (KYD) process at the time of initial AMFI registration. In respect of non-individual ARN applicants, the KYD process is to be completed by the designated /authorised official / partner/ karta (if the applicant is a HUF) as the case may be.

Previously, this involved document verification and Bio-metric process, for which the ARN applicant had to visit the nearest CAMS POS for completing the biometrics.

AMFI has since enabled a completely paperless online ARN Registration process which is based on Aadhaar authentication, wherein the individual applicant’s identity / Aadhaar is authenticated with UIDAI by CAMS (since CAMS is registered with UIDAI as KYC User Agency). Since the biometric information verified by the UIDAI includes fingerprints of all ten fingers, iris scans of both the eyes, and a facial photograph, the need to conduct separate biometrics at CAMS’ POS has been eliminated in the online ARN Registration process based on Aadhaar authentication.

Aadhaar has become the most important Officially Valid Document (OVD) for proof of identity as well as proof of address for KYC purposes. Currently for KYC status to be considered as “Validated”, the OVD data should have been validated with the issuing authority, i.e. UIDAI, PAN-Aadhaar linking done, and email and/or mobile is also validated. Further, it is now mandatory for individual taxpayers to link their PAN with Aadhaar.

In view of the above factors, AMFI has discontinued the physical biometrics process at CAMS POS for KYD compliance w.e.f. 01-Oct-2024 and made it mandatory for ARN applicants to either (i) provide Aadhaar and PAN; or (ii) have a “valid” KYC with the KRAs (i.e., KYC with “Validated” status) for the KYD purpose.

In Short, it is compulsory for the applicants applying for AMFI registration (fresh ARN & EUIN) to apply only via online mode to facilitate Aadhaar & PAN authentication online seamlessly.

In the context of non-individual applicant applying for ARN, the Aadhaar of the authorised signatories is required to be provided at the time of applying for ARN/ AMFI registration.

Employee Unique identification Number (EUIN) & it’s Importance

SEBI has mandated in the Master circular for Mutual Funds that AMFI shall assign a unique identity number to the employee/ relationship manager/ salesperson of the distributor interacting with the investors for the sale of mutual fund products, in addition to the ARN of the distributor. The EUIN shall be mentioned along with the ARN of the distributor in the application form / transaction feed. The EUIN helps in tracing and identifying the employee/ relationship manager/ salesperson of the distributor who has sourced the transaction in case of any complaint of mis selling / deficiency in service.

EUIN Remediation (in case incorrect / invalid EUIN is mentioned):

If the EUIN is not mentioned in the application form / electronic data feed (in case of online transactions) along with ARN / Sub distributor ARN code, the concerned distributor ( ARN holder) needs to remediate the same within 30 days from the date of the transaction either by providing the EUIN or submitting a declaration signed by the investor in a separate form that the EUIN has been intentionally left blank. In case the EUIN or the above declaration is not provided within 30 days, the commission payable on the relevant purchase transaction shall be forfeited permanently.

Mandatory empanelment with the concerned AMC before doing any MF business

Before doing any business for any mutual fund, the MFD needs to be necessarily / formally empanelled with the concerned AMC. Getting registered with AMFI and obtaining ARN does not automatically confer any right to the MFD to start selling mutual fund schemes of any mutual fund, unless and until the MFD is duly empanelled with the concerned AMC. Transactions received, if any, from / under the ARN of a non-empanelled MFD shall be processed under Direct Plan, in terms of AMFI circular no. 135/BP/ 107 /2023-24 dated May 04, 2023