Distinct from exit load, which lets you leave for a fee. Three years for ELSS (the tax-saving category); most open-ended funds have none.
For the formula and the constants behind this figure, see Methodology.
Guides that use Lock-in
3 guides put this term to work.
- ELSS: save tax while building wealth — if you are on the right regimeSection 80C exists only under the old regime, which turns “is ELSS worth it?” into a question about your tax regime rather than about the fund.
- Mutual fund taxation decoded: short-term vs long-term capital gainsEquity, debt, hybrid and ELSS are taxed under different rules, and the rules changed twice in three years. What applies now, and to which of your units.
- Structuring a portfolio for your child's higher educationThe one goal with an immovable date and inflation well above the headline. The glide path that gets you there, and what SEBI's discontinued solution-oriented category means for you.
More on costs & scheme terms
What you pay, and the rules attached to buying and selling units.
- Expense ratio
- The fund's annual running cost, as a percentage of assets.
- Direct vs Regular plan
- The same portfolio, sold with or without distributor commission built in.
- Growth vs IDCW option
- Whether gains stay invested or get paid out.
- Exit load
- A fee charged when you redeem within a stated period.
- Stamp duty
- A flat 0.005% government levy on every mutual fund purchase.
- Minimum SIP / lumpsum
- The smallest instalment and the smallest one-time amount the scheme accepts.
- NFO
- A scheme's initial subscription window, before it starts trading.