Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India(Sebi) has proposed allowing third-party entities to make payments into mutual funds in select cases, marking a shift from its existing rule that mandates investments originate directly from an investor's own bank account."...requests have been made by the mutual fund industry to relax the extant conditions for third party payments in certain cases such as payment of salaries by employers, payment of commissions byAMCs, etc, with adequate safeguards in place," Sebi said in a consultation paper on Wednesday.Under the proposal, employers including listed entities, EPFO-registered firms and asset management companies (AMCs) themselves would be allowed to invest in mutual fund schemes on behalf of employees through payroll deductions. Employees would be able to voluntarily opt into such arrangements and select schemes of their choice."This mechanism would allow AMCs to accept consolidated payments for mutual fund investments through salary deduction," SEBI said.The regulator has also suggested allowing AMCs to pay trail commissions to empanelled mutual fund distributors (MFDs), in the form of mutual fund units instead of cash."As in case of payroll deduction in respect of employees, the proposed scenario for allotment of MF units in lieu of trail commission or part thereof as agreed between the AMC and MFD shall provide a convenient, seamless and disciplined way of investing in MF units for the MFD and encourages the MFDs to save and invest for the long term," SEBI said.The regulator further proposed creating a framework to allow investors to contribute a part of the subscription amount or a scheme's return, towards a social cause.It has suggested two options - dedicated schemes focused on donations or enabling all existing schemes to incorporate donation facilities.