If you invest in mutual funds, the most useful question is simple: what do you actually pay? Under the mutual fund expense ratio new rules 2026, the answer is now shown in clearer parts. SEBI, through the SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations 2026 notified on 14 January 2026 and effective from 1 April 2026, has restructured how your fund tells you about its costs. The single all-in number you used to see is now broken into pieces, so you can see exactly which rupee pays the fund manager and which rupee pays for trading and taxes.

A worked example of what you pay (illustration only)

Say Kashvi Pathak holds ₹10,00,000 in an equity mutual fund. In the past she saw only one figure: the Total Expense Ratio, or TER. Under the new structure her fund statement separates that one figure into three labelled parts. The numbers below are illustration only and are not regulatory caps.

So in plain terms: TER = BER + brokerage + statutory levies. The numbers above are made up to show the split. The point is the structure, not the figures.

The Total Expense Ratio (TER) is the complete cost of running the fund, expressed as a percentage of the money invested and quietly deducted from your returns. It has always existed. What is new is that SEBI has carved out a cleaner inner number.

The Base Expense Ratio (BER) is that inner number. It reflects only the fee the Asset Management Company charges for managing your money. It does not include trading costs or taxes. Think of the BER as the manager fee and the TER as the manager fee plus the unavoidable extras that come with buying, selling and being taxed.

Before the SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations 2026, these costs were largely bundled into one capped figure. Now the management fee stands on its own, and the other costs are shown beside it.

Brokerage, GST, STT, stamp duty and exchange fees are real costs, but they are not the fund manager's skill or service. They move with how often the fund trades and with tax rates set by the government, not by the AMC.

By pulling these out of the bundled cap and charging them separately on actuals, SEBI, through the 2026 Regulations notified 14 January 2026 and effective 1 April 2026, makes two things clearer: how much you pay purely for management, and how much trading and tax add. A fund that trades heavily will now show higher brokerage on actuals, which is a useful signal about its style. This separation does not by itself raise or lower your total cost. It changes how the same total is presented to you, with more honesty about the parts.

Alongside the restructuring, SEBI has also reduced the maximum expense ratios that funds may charge across the different AUM, or assets under management, slabs. In most slabs the reduction is around 10 to 15 basis points lower than before. A basis point is one hundredth of one per cent, so this is a modest but real trimming of the ceiling.

We are deliberately keeping this qualitative. The exact ceilings for each slab are best read straight from your fund's official documents and SEBI's notification rather than from any number quoted second hand. What you can rely on is the direction: the maximum chargeable cost has come down a little, which helps long-term investors compound slightly more of their own money.

For passive and low-cost products, this sits naturally beside the SEBI MF Lite framework, which already aims to keep simple index-style funds cheap and lightly regulated.

The 2026 Regulations also introduce an optional performance-linked fee structure. This lets a fund choose to tie part of its charge to how well it performs, rather than charging a flat fee regardless of results.

It is optional. Not every fund will adopt it, and existing funds are not forced to switch. If a fund you hold moves to a performance-linked model, that change must be disclosed to you. Read the disclosure carefully so you understand when the higher fee applies and against which benchmark performance is measured before you decide whether to stay.

You do not need to take anyone's word for what you pay. To confirm your fund's costs under the new structure:

1. Open your fund's Scheme Information Document and the monthly fact sheet on the AMC website. These now show the BER and the full TER.
2. Look for the separate lines for brokerage and commissions and for statutory levies so you can see the full split.
3. Compare the BER across similar funds. A lower management fee for similar performance is a genuine saving.
4. Check your Consolidated Account Statement from CAMS or KFintech to see your holdings in one place.
5. While you are reviewing your folio, it is a good moment to add or change a demat nominee so your family is protected.

If a fund refuses to give you a clear cost breakup, or you face an unresolved grievance, you can escalate. Our guide on which regulator to complain to explains when SEBI is the right authority, and you can prepare a written query using the AI RTI Drafter.

For a wider walk-through of using information rights to hold institutions accountable, see The RTI Playbook.

Bottom line: existing investors do not need to do anything. The new rules give you more transparency on what you pay and modestly lower the ceiling on costs over time. The only sensible action is to read your next fact sheet a little more closely.

No. The mutual fund expense ratio new rules 2026 change how costs are presented and slightly lower the maximum chargeable cost. Your units, your folio and your investments stay exactly as they are. You simply get a clearer cost breakup going forward.

The Base Expense Ratio, or BER, is only the fee the AMC charges for managing your money. The Total Expense Ratio, or TER, is the full cost: BER plus brokerage and commissions plus statutory levies such as GST, STT and stamp duty. TER is always the higher, all-in figure.

Not by itself. Separating brokerage and statutory levies changes the presentation, not the underlying nature of the costs. These costs always existed. Now they are shown on actuals beside the management fee instead of being bundled into one capped number.

SEBI has cut the maximum expense ratios across AUM slabs by around 10 to 15 basis points in most slabs. We keep this qualitative on purpose. For the exact ceiling that applies to your fund, read the SEBI notification and your fund's official documents directly.

No. The 2026 Regulations make a performance-linked fee structure optional. A fund may choose to adopt it, but it is not forced on existing schemes. Any such change must be disclosed to you, so read the disclosure before deciding to stay invested.

SEBI notified the SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations 2026 on 14 January 2026, replacing the 1996 framework, and they took effect from 1 April 2026. The new expense-ratio structure applies from that date.

Check your fund's Scheme Information Document and monthly fact sheet on the AMC website. Both now display the Base Expense Ratio and the full Total Expense Ratio, along with separate lines for brokerage and statutory levies.

• SEBI, the SEBI Mutual Funds Regulations 2026, Notification SEBI/LAD-NRO/GN/2026/294, notified 14 January 2026, effective 1 April 2026.
• SEBI, official scheme disclosure norms on Total Expense Ratio and Base Expense Ratio for mutual funds.