How to recover unclaimed shares and dividends from IEPF?

General
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The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is a government initiative in India, established under the Companies Act of 2013, to promote investor awareness and protection. IEPF mainly deals with unclaimed or unpaid dividends, shares, debentures, and other investments. Such funds and securities are transferred to the IEPF Authority, where investors or their heirs can claim them.

While nowadays dividends/interests are typically credited directly to a shareholder’s bank account through electronic modes, these can remain unclaimed for several reasons, such as:

  1. Inactive or incorrect bank accounts: If the bank account details provided by the shareholder are incorrect, outdated, or inactive.

  2. Non-updated contact details: If a shareholder has changed their bank account or address and has not updated their details with the company or depository.

  3. Unclaimed physical dividend warrants: In cases where shareholders receive physical dividend warrants (cheques or demand drafts), they might lose or forget to deposit these in time.

  4. Nominee or legal heir situations: If the original shareholder has passed away and no nominee or legal heir has claimed the shares.

Hence, in all these cases, if the amount remains unpaid or unclaimed for 7 years, the company transfers it into the IEPF. However, the shareholders can claim a refund of their amounts transferred to the IEPF by filing the Form IEPF-5 with the IEPF Authority.

How can you claim a refund from the IEPF?

Here are the steps that you can follow:

  1. Fill Form IEPF-5

    • Visit the IEPF website and download Form IEPF-5. Alternatively, you can access the form here after logging in to www.mca.gov.in.
    • Fill in the required information.

  2. Submit the form and obtain SRN: After completing Form IEPF-5, submit it. Upon successful submission, an acknowledgment slip will be generated with a Service Request Number (SRN). This will be required for future tracking.

  3. Send physical documents to the Nodal Officer: Collect the necessary physical documents and send them to the Nodal Officer of the respective company. These include self attested copies of the IEPF-5 form and acknowledgment along with Indemnity bond and other documents as mentioned in form. The Nodal Officer’s address can be found on the company’s website or here’s a list released by IEPF (dated Oct 2021).

  4. Verification by the company: The company’s Nodal Officer will review the documents and verify the claim. If the documents and claim are in order, the company forwards it to the IEPF Authority.

  5. Processing by IEPF Authority: The IEPF Authority will process the claim after receiving verification from the company. If the claim is approved, the IEPF Authority will refund the unpaid amount to the shareholder’s bank account and transfer the shares back to the shareholder’s demat account (if applicable).

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