The badla session on BSE on Friday saw three UTI scheme units attracting backwardation charges on the bourse, indicative of huge selling in the absence of delivery. While UTI Mastergain attracted a backwardation of Rs 0.10 on a weighted average, Masterplus and Mastershare attracted undha badla charges of Rs 0.03 and Rs 0.01, respectively.

The UTI Masterplus counter also witnessed a phenomenal chunk of 97,300 shares auctioned at a price of Rs16.10, while UTI Mastergrowth registered an auction volume of 5,750 shares.

According to market participants, investors are facing bad delivery problems at these counters on account of signature differences. ``Most of these units are held on the names of minors. While selling these units, the investors fail to comply by the good and bad delivery norms laid down by Sebi, hence, the rising problems of bad delivery at these counters," explained a BSE official.

"While the signature difference has been the reason for the rise in the bad deliveries, the sentiment behind the huge sales has been the fear on account of US-64," he added. However, during the week ended October 16, the UTI Mastergain counter registered a net short position of 45,000 shares, while long positions stood at 23,000 shares.

According to sources, the fact that the counter registered nil purchases during the badla session last week and registered a short position of 23,000 shares, shows that short covering during the initial phase was aprominent feature at the counter. Sources also hinted that fresh purchases by domestic institutions has also helped the Mastergain unit trade at a steady price of Rs 8.85 on the local bourses.