A KRA, or KYC registration agency, is a SEBI-registered body that keeps the KYC records investors complete for mutual funds and other securities.
When you complete KYC with a fund house, a broker or any other SEBI-regulated firm, the record is uploaded to a KYC registration agency. Every other firm in the securities market can then look it up, so you do KYC once rather than at each fund house.
There are five KRAs:
Which one holds your record depends on where you did your KYC. The KRAs share data with one another, so you can check your status on any KRA's website with your PAN.
KRAs also verify records against official sources, such as the Income Tax Department's PAN records and Aadhaar. The result is your KYC status, such as Validated, Registered or On Hold, which decides where you can invest.
KRAs are separate from CKYC, the central KYC registry for the whole financial sector, and a mutual fund KYC may be recorded in both. KYC status explains what each status means and how to fix one that is on hold.
Every KYC record carries one of four statuses. What each one lets you do, how to check yours and how to clear an On Hold status.
KYC is done once with a KYC registration agency and is accepted by every fund house. The online Aadhaar route, the in-person route and what CKYC adds.
Each fund page has its returns, risk, costs, managers and everything it holds.