Ever since SEBI abolished entry loads for purchase of mutual funds since August 2009, different banks and service providers have been adopting different tactics to make their commissions through innovative ways. HDFC Bank provides "investment accounts" through their regular internet banking channel to its customers to transact in mutual funds.
In the first week of Sept 2009, the bank sent an email communication to me that "the bank would levy a nominal charge of Rs 100 every quarter" to use this service. There is no cap on the number of transactions one can conduct through this channel, however. I promptly wrote to the bank to close this account, submitting a form for the same. I am yet to get a confirmation yet regarding the closure. I have never used this facility, incidentally.
There are a lot of websites in India that offer analysis and tools for information about mutual funds - the content is free and the research is excellent - myiris.com, moneycontrol.com and valueresearch.com are a few noteworthy sites. And most offline distributors offer to service investors for free and may charge depending on the service provided - basic courier kind of work for picking up forms and dropping them with mutual fund companies would be free, advice would be free/priced, etc.(These distributors would get paid commissions by the mutual fund companies)
Of course, one can also perform online transactions with the fund houses directly after registering for the same. And soon, we should have in place a facility that allows investors to transact in mutual funds of over a dozen leading fund houses(not sure of the associated fees/charges, however, about this facility).
If one is a self directed investor, one need not pay(any) banks any of this nominal fee every quarter.
Alternatively, given the plethora of distributors in the market, it is quite possible to get the service free from most distributors. So, one should be careful and compare the available options before accepting to pay such charges. And it is quite likely that unless customers write to the bank asking the bank to close the investment account, one may get hit with charges being levied to the savings account.