NISM Fees and Registration Costs 2026: MFD, SIF & PMS Guide

Why NISM fees are just the starting point

For each distribution license, you pay two separate charges. First, the NISM exam fee to clear the certification. Second, a registration fee to the relevant industry body to get your distribution rights.

The NISM exam fee is flat for everyone and already includes GST (only payment gateway charges are extra). The registration fee is different: it excludes GST and scales by entity type, and the gap between an individual and a bank is more than 130x.

One thing I'd flag upfront, because it trips people up constantly: passing the NISM exam gives you a certificate, not a license. Until the registration fee is paid and the ARN, SIF registration, or APRN is issued, you cannot earn commission on that product category.

The three-stage distributor journey

Most distributors in India follow the same progression. You start with the mutual fund distribution license because it is the foundation: the widest product access and the most established infrastructure. You can read the full process in our guide on how to become a mutual fund distributor.

From there, SIF distribution is the natural second step. SEBI created the SIF category in late 2024 as a middle layer between mutual funds and AIFs, with a minimum investment of ₹10 lakh per investor, and the framework went live in April 2025. PMS distribution is typically the third layer, serving HNI clients at a ₹50 lakh minimum ticket.

Each stage has its own NISM exam and its own registration. None of them replaces another. And here is something the official pages never put side by side: the exams get harder as you go up the ladder.

Sources: NISM's consolidated certification table, NISM Series XIII exam page, revised XXI-A structure notified via APMI.

In my experience, veteran MFDs underestimate the SIF exam the most. NISM XIII is a derivatives paper (it combines equity, currency, and interest rate derivatives), and most distributors come from a funds background, not a trading desk. The 25% negative marking punishes guesswork hard.

Stage 1: MFD license (NISM V-A + ARN)

What it covers: Regular mutual fund schemes, SIPs, NFOs, and all AMC products on BSE StAR MF, MFU, and similar platforms.

Exam: NISM Series V-A (Mutual Fund Distributors Certification). Fee ₹1,500, 100 questions, 2 hours, 50% to pass, no negative marking. Certificate valid 3 years. For the syllabus and preparation strategy, see our NISM Series V-A exam guide.

Registration: AMFI issues your ARN (AMFI Registration Number), valid 3 years. Fees below are effective October 1, 2024, per the official AMFI fee structure. AMFI doubled these rates in October 2024, restoring pre-Covid levels after the 50% pandemic discount of 2021.

All registration fees above attract 18% GST on top.

A detail that matters for any non-individual entity: AMFI will not grant a corporate ARN without at least one employee holding a valid NISM certificate and a registered EUIN. So a private limited company's real entry cost includes the ₹1,500 plus GST EUIN fee, on top of the ₹40,000 plus GST entity fee.

Stage 1 total for an individual: ₹1,500 (NISM) + ₹3,540 (ARN incl. GST) = ₹5,040

Stage 2: SIF license (NISM XIII + AMFI SIF registration)

What it covers: Specialized Investment Funds, the SEBI product category that sits between mutual funds and AIFs. Minimum investment of ₹10 lakh per investor.

Who can apply: A valid ARN (or EUIN, for employees) is a prerequisite. But contrary to what many assume, you do not have to get the ARN first and the SIF license later. Per AMFI's process, new distributors can apply for ARN and SIF registration simultaneously through CAMS.

Exam: NISM Series XIII (Common Derivatives Certification). Fee ₹3,000, 150 questions, 3 hours, 60% to pass, 25% negative marking. This is the toughest and most expensive exam of the three.

Registration: AMFI again, per circular CIR/ARN-29/2025-26 dated July 30, 2025. Your existing ARN is updated to include SIF rights within about a day of payment. No new number is issued. The fees deliberately mirror the ARN structure: ₹3,000 for individuals, ₹40,000 for Pvt Ltd / OPC / LLP, ₹4 lakh for banks and public limited companies, ₹1,500 for EUIN holders, all plus GST.

Two fine-print points most coverage skips. For individuals, the SIF registration stays valid only as long as the NISM XIII certificate does, not a fixed 3 years. And if your underlying ARN lapses, the SIF registration dies with it automatically, even if your XIII certificate is still valid.

Stage 2 total for an individual: ₹3,000 (NISM XIII) + ₹3,540 (SIF registration incl. GST) = ₹6,540

That makes SIF the most expensive license of the three for an individual. Most MFDs I've spoken to assume it's a cheap add-on to their ARN. It isn't.

Stage 3: PMS license (NISM XXI-A + APMI registration)

What it covers: Distribution of SEBI-registered Portfolio Management Services. Minimum investment of ₹50 lakh per client.

Exam: NISM Series XXI-A (PMS Distributors Certification). Fee ₹1,500, 100 questions, 2 hours, 60% to pass, 10% negative marking. Certificate valid 3 years.

Here's a piece of recent history that tells you something about this exam: failure rates were high enough that APMI formally asked for a review, and NISM relaxed the paper in March 2025, cutting negative marking from 25% to 10% and rebalancing the syllabus. If you attempted it before March 2025 and failed, the current version is measurably easier.

Registration: APMI (Association of Portfolio Managers in India) issues your APRN. Registration has been mandatory since January 1, 2025 per SEBI's directive. Fees per APMI's distributor registration criteria:

All fees exclude 18% GST. The APRN stays valid as long as your NISM XXI-A certificate does; renewal requires a fresh CPE or re-examination first.

Two structural quirks worth knowing. First, PMS distribution does not require an ARN at all. The APRN is a standalone license, so an individual can sell PMS without ever registering with AMFI. Second, SEBI put real teeth into the APRN mandate: PMS providers were directed to withhold commissions of unregistered distributors from January 2025, and after July 31, 2025, commission accrued by non-compliant distributors gets credited back to investors. Not withheld. Gone.

Stage 3 total for an individual: ₹1,500 (NISM XXI-A) + ₹590 (APMI incl. GST) = ₹2,090

The PMS license is the cheapest of the three by a wide margin, which surprises people given it serves the wealthiest client segment.

Total cost: all three licenses, by entity type

Individual or sole proprietor, starting from scratch:

NISM exam fees are inclusive of GST as published; registration fees attract 18% GST on top.

Private limited company, all three licenses:

The corporate figure is roughly 8x the individual one for identical distribution rights, because non-individual entities pay the entity fee and the qualifying employee's fee at every stage. This is why most new distributors register as individuals or proprietors first and incorporate only when business volume justifies it. (When that crossover happens is a separate question; we're working on a dedicated article on it.)

Renewal costs every three years

The renewal fee is half the original registration fee at AMFI, both for ARN and SIF. Verified figures for an individual:

Here's the oddity nobody points out: re-taking the V-A exam costs ₹1,500, while the one-day CPE refresher that exempts you from the exam costs ₹2,500. The shortcut is ₹1,000 more expensive than the exam it replaces. Plenty of cost-conscious distributors just sit the exam again.

Timing matters more than the fee. AMFI's own guidance is to start renewal 30 days before expiry because the full cycle (CPE certificate issuance plus processing) takes over 15 working days. Miss the window and the consequences compound:

• Trail commission for the lapsed period is withheld, and under the norms effective April 1, 2025, forfeited entirely if you renew more than 3 months late. The April 2025 relaxation protects your pre-expiry trail, which used to be forfeited too, but the lapsed-period income is gone either way.

• Any SIP instalments triggered while your ARN is invalid get shifted to direct plans, and those instalments never come back to your ARN.

• Your SIF registration goes invalid automatically the moment the ARN does.

One more renewal-adjacent trap: the Annual Declaration of Self-Certification (DSC), due to AMFI by June 30 each year. Miss it and AMCs withhold all accrued commission from July 1; miss the September 30 hard deadline and the withheld amount is forfeited. It costs nothing to file. It costs a quarter's income to forget.