Every mutual fund comes with a few standard charges, even if you don’t see them listed as a separate bill.

Expense ratio is the annual fee the fund house charges to manage the scheme. It’s already built into the NAV, so you’re not charged separately; it just means your actual return is a touch lower than the fund’s raw performance.

Exit load applies only if you redeem before the scheme’s minimum holding period commonly one year for equity funds, though this varies by scheme and usually runs 0.5% to 1% of the redemption value. Hold past that period, and exit load doesn’t apply at all.

STT (Securities Transaction Tax) applies only on equity fund redemptions, at a flat 0.001% of the transaction value the same across all equity schemes.

Expense ratio applies no matter what; exit load and STT only apply depending on when and what you redeem. Check the specific fund’s factsheet for its exact numbers before investing.