Assistance with Recovering Shares and Dividends from IEPF
Specialized service in facilitating the retrieval of unclaimed shares and dividends from the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), to ensure ownership and entitlements in compliance with regulatory requirements.
Meaning
In many cases, shareholders overlook claiming dividends on their shares. If these dividends remain unencashed for an extended period, they lapse and the unclaimed dividends and shares are transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) of the company as per the guideline of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. According to Section 124 of the Companies Act 2013, Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) is set up that allows the shareholder to recover their unclaimed shares.
Transfer of Unclaimed Shares
The unclaimed shares along with the interest, of shareholders are transferred to the IEPF when no claim has been made for more than seven years. The company records relevant detailes of the shareholders and the amount of claim and furnishes such details to the IEPFA to maintain the data in case of future recovery of unclaimed shares.
Who can apply to IEPF Authority for recovery of shares?
Recovery of Shares by the IEPF Authority can be done if the company has maintained an IEPF and furnished the relevant documents. The following entities or individuals can apply to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) Authority for the recovery of shares:
- Shareholders: Shareholders who have not claimed their dividends or shares and have had them transferred to the IEPF can apply for their recovery.
- Legal Heirs: Legal heirs of deceased shareholders can apply for the recovery of shares if they have inherited the shares and the dividends were unclaimed.
- Investors: Other investors or entities who have a legitimate claim to unclaimed shares or dividends transferred to the IEPF can also apply for recovery.
Process of Recovery of Share From IEPF
Step 1: Filing to Authority by Claimant
A claimant who wishes to get a refund or recover the shares back in his/her name should submit the Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal. The claimant should provide the following information in the form:
- The applicant’s (claimant’s) information
- The company information from which the amount is due, including CIN number
- Details of the shares to be claimed
- Details of the amount of the dividend to be claimed
- Aadhaar number, when the claimant is an Indian citizen or passport/OCI/PIO card number, when the claimant is an NRI or foreigner.
- Details of the bank account linked to Aadhaar to which the claim would be refunded
- Demat account number
Step 2: Submitting the Claim to the Company
After submitting the Form IEPF-5, the claimant should send the copy of the form in an envelope labelled ‘Claim for refund from IEPF Authority’ to the company’s IEPF Nodal Officer/Registrar with the following documents:
- Printout of the filled Form IEPF-5 with the claimant’s signature
- Copy of the acknowledgement with the SRN number
- Original indemnity bond with the claimant’s signature on a non-judicial stamp paper of the amount stated under the Stamp Act
- Original advance stamped receipt with signature of the claimant and witnesses
- Original share certificates (if shares are in physical form) or copy of transaction statement (if securities are in Demat form)
- Aadhaar card
- Proof of entitlement, i.e. certificate of share, interest warrant application number, etc.
- Passport, Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card in case of NRIs and foreigners
- Cancelled cheque
- Copy of Demat account’s client master list
Step 3: Submission of Claim from the Company to the IEPF Authority
The company must prepare a verification report within 15 days of receiving a claim form from a claimant and submit it to the IEPF Authorities along with the claimant’s documentation.
Step 4: Refund from IEPF Authority to the Claimant
The IEPF Authority must decide on the claimant’s reimbursement application within 60 days after obtaining the verification report from the relevant company that has validated the claimant’s application.
The IEPF Authority will issue a refund sanction order when the claimant is entitled to the shares with the permission of the competent authority. The IEPF Authority and the Drawing and Disbursing Officer of the authority will send a bill to the Pay and Accounts Officer for payment after verifying the claimant’s entitlement. The shares or the extent of the claimant’s entitlement will be credited to the Demat account of the claimant.
What is included in this
FAQs
No, not all companies have the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF). The IEPF is primarily applicable to public companies, including listed companies, and certain other specified companies as mandated by the Companies Act, 2013. Private companies typically do not fall under the purview of the IEPF unless they are designated as such under specific regulatory provisions.
Yes, your legal heir can recover your unclaimed shares after your demise. They would need to follow the necessary legal procedures and provide the required documentation to establish their entitlement to the shares.
You can recover dead shares by using the specified recovery procedure, hence the answer is yes.
Yes. Forms filled in physical mode are summarily rejected.
The number of shares and amount should be same as that filled in form IEPF -5. These values can be ascertained based on the available documents with the claimant or verified from the company. However mismatch in number of shares or in amount is not a ground for rejection of the claim. The authority shall process the claim based on the verification report received from the company and the same shall be verified from the data available with the authority.
