Investor complaints dip at top MFs; Reliance sees biggest fall

The number of investor complaints has come down drastically at the country's top mutual funds, with Reliance MF leading the charts with the highest decline among the five biggest players.

The total number of investor complaints received by the five biggest fund houses fell by 11,792 or 20 per cent in the fiscal year 2012-13, the latest data compiled by the Assocation of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) shows. While the decline was highest in absolute terms at 9,954 at Reliance MF, ICICI Pru Mutual Fund was the only fund house among the top five to see a higher number of compliants.

The complaints include those related to non-receipt of dividends or units, delayed dividend payments, discrepancies in account statements and investor details, wrong or unauthorised switch between schemes and excess charges.

HDFC MF is currently ranked the country's biggest fund house in terms of assets under management, followed by Reliance MF, ICICI Pru, Birla Sun Life and UTI MF.

In percentage terms, the decline in the number of complaints was highest for UTI Mutual Fund at 47 per cent, followed by Reliance MF's 42 per cent. ICICI Pru saw the numbers rise 35 per cent or 3,430 complaints during the fiscal. The total number of complaints at these five companies in the fiscal 2012-13 stood at 46,522 as against 58,315 complaints in the previous year.