More than a month after the expiry of its deadline, a significant number of distributors are yet to get the employee unique identification number (EUIN), a verification tool that is expected to help stem the scale of misselling in the mutual fund industry.

Just about 80,000 EUINs have been issued till date. While fund houses seem to have more or less complied with the EUIN requirements, banks and national distributors are yet to get all their employees an EUIN.

The actual number of EUINs yet to be dispensed could be as high as 3-5 lakh, according to industry observers.

Distributors can either go to Amfi or directly to CAMS to get their EUIN registration done. Sources said there is a huge backlog of registration requests pending with CAMS at present, which is why the registrar & transfer agent is taking more than a month to generate the EUINs instead of the stipulated 8-10 days.

According to V Ramesh, deputy CEO at Amfi, EUIN registrations had picked up in the past couple of months, but the pace has been slower than expected. ?Distributors are getting their most active employees registered first; the less active distributors and the support staff will be next in line to get registered,? said Surajit Misra, national head, mutual funds, Bajaj Capital, a national distributor.

Distributors are required to quote their EUIN in addition to their Amfi registration number (ARN) from June 1 on all advisory based transactions. Industry watchers said that there is no clarity on the exact quantum of EUINs to be dispensed as the exact number of employees selling mutual funds in large set-ups such as banks remains unknown.

Distributors now stand to forfeit commissions on transactions if the EUIN is not furnished to fund houses within 90 days. However, the EUIN number can be left blank for ?execution only? trades.

The move to introduce EUIN was largely driven by the need to put the brakes on the rampant churning and misselling of mutual fund products, especially by large private banks. ?It is important that investors ensure that the person advising them on mutual funds has an ARN as well as an EUIN number. This will help curtail and prevent misselling of mutual fund products,? said Ramesh.

In its circular dated September last year, Sebi had mandated that Amfi should create a unique identity number of employees, relationship managers, sales persons of the distributors interacting with investors for the sale of mutual fund products, in addition to the distributor?s ARN.