AIF registration with SEBI — the process, the fees and what the certificate means
How does a fund register as an AIF with SEBI?
The applicant files Form A under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 with supporting documents and a ₹1,00,000 application fee. On approval it pays a registration fee: ₹5 lakh for Category I, ₹10 lakh for Category II, ₹15 lakh for Category III and ₹2 lakh for an angel fund. A fund must be registered before it raises any money.
Register first, raise second
A fund must be registered with SEBI before it raises any money. That sequence is the point of the regime: registration is a precondition of fundraising, not a formality completed alongside it.
Registration produces a number in the form
IN/AIF{1,2,3}/{financial year}/{serial}. The digit after AIF records the
category, and the financial year records when
the fund was registered. Every registered fund is in the
directory, and you can browse them by
year of registration.
The process
1. Apply in Form A. The applicant files Form A as provided in the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, with supporting documents, to SEBI's Investment Management Department in Mumbai.
2. Pay the application fee of ₹1,00,000 with the application.
3. SEBI examines eligibility, which covers the applicant's constitution, the sponsor and manager, the proposed category, and the eligibility conditions in the regulations.
4. On approval, pay the registration fee, which varies by category.
5. File a placement memorandum before launching a scheme, with the scheme fee where applicable, at least 30 days before launch.
The fees
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application fee, with Form A | ₹1,00,000 |
| Registration fee — Category I | ₹5,00,000 |
| Registration fee — Category II | ₹10,00,000 |
| Registration fee — Category III | ₹15,00,000 |
| Registration fee — angel funds | ₹2,00,000 |
| Scheme fee, on filing a placement memorandum | ₹1,00,000 |
Authority: Regulation 3(5) read with the SEBI (Payment of Fees) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014, as reproduced in SEBI's own FAQs on Alternative Investment Funds.
Two things about the scheme fee. It does not apply to an AIF's first scheme, other than for angel funds, and it does not apply to angel funds at all. It must be paid at least 30 days before the scheme launches.
A caution on these figures. They are the schedule in the Payment of Fees (Amendment) Regulations, 2014 as SEBI reproduces it. Fee schedules are amended from time to time and this site could not confirm the figures against a current gazette notification. Confirm with SEBI before budgeting against them.
Changing category after registration
Permitted, but narrowly, under circular CIR/IMD/DF/12/2013 dated 7 August 2013.
Only an AIF that has not yet made investments under its existing category may apply. It applies in Form A with the ₹1,00,000 application fee, and pays no fresh registration fee.
Where the fund has already received commitments or raised money before applying, it must write to every investor offering the option to withdraw without penalty or charge, and refund any fees collected from those who take it. Partial withdrawal is allowed, subject to the remaining investment still meeting the ₹1 crore minimum. Until SEBI approves, the fund may not invest in anything other than liquid funds and bank deposits.
That is a deliberately unattractive path. The regime expects the category to be chosen correctly at the outset.
Validity
Registration is perpetual, subject to compliance and payment of applicable fees. There is no annual renewal. See perpetual validity.
What ends a registration is winding up, surrender, or SEBI action. A fund is wound up when its tenure ends, or when 75 percent of investors by value of their investment resolve to wind it up, among other grounds in Regulation 29.
Funds that have left the register are still listed in the directory with their status, because a fund's registration history is a fact worth being able to check.
What the certificate does not mean
This matters more than anything else on the page, and it is the single most common misreading of the register.
Registration is a fact about a filing. It records that an applicant applied, met the eligibility conditions, and was registered. It is not:
- an endorsement of the fund, the manager or the strategy;
- a rating, a score or a recommendation;
- any assurance about conduct, competence or results;
- any statement about whether the fund is suitable for you.
SEBI does not represent registration as any of those things, and neither does this site. The register is reproduced here because who is registered, in which category, since when, is checkable public fact — and because per-fund performance is not.
If a fund is being sold to you on the strength of being "SEBI registered", that phrase carries exactly the weight described above and no more. What to examine instead is set out in how to choose an AIF.
Sources
- SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, Regulation 3(5) and Regulation 29.
- SEBI (Payment of Fees) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014, fee schedule.
- SEBI circular CIR/IMD/DF/12/2013 dated 7 August 2013, on change of category.
- Both as reproduced in SEBI's own FAQs on Alternative Investment Funds.
Checked against source on 24 August 2026. Verify with SEBI before acting.
Checked against source on 24 August 2026. This page is information, not legal, tax or investment advice.