Many investors invest in shares and eventually lose, forget, or misplace those details or documents that bear the records of those investments. In such situations, many people find it extremely difficult to reclaim those shares, since they have lost the required records of their past investment.
So, what should you do in order to reclaim those shares? If you are now in such a situation, then you don’t have to worry about anything. This article will provide you with plausible information that will help you to reclaim the shares of your past investment or your departed loved ones.
But before you look into the procedure, you need to have a piece of adequate knowledge about what happens to those unclaimed investments, and oversee the whole process! To have a better understanding of your situation as well as to know the way to reclaim your shares. So, let’s take a look at it.
Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)
As the name itself suggests, it is a fund set by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). When the invested money in a company remains unclaimed by the investors, the Company transfers that money to the IEPF. Further, IEPF ensures that the unclaimed shares can be transferred to the right person. And that is where you come in. You can approach IEPF to apply for reclamation of those shares.
According to the rules of section 124 of the Companies Act, and the Investors Education and Protection Fund Authority, every licensed company has to transfer an unclaimed investment to the IEPF, if the investment has not been claimed by the rightful owner for up to 7 years and 37 days. Thereafter, if the investors seek to reclaim the investments, they can apply to claim shares from IEPF.
Who Can Apply for IEPF for Reclamation?
If you are the Shareholder whose unclaimed shares have been transferred to the IEPF, you can easily apply to claim shares from IEPF. However, you need to make a solid claim concerning the company in a financial year. The claim needs to include the data from various folios of the same company.
In case, you are not the shareholder, instead, you are the legal heir, nominee, or successor of the shareholder, then you need to make sure that the respective company transfers those shares to IEPF before filing the IEPF claim with authorities. In addition to it, after the transfer of those unclaimed shares, make sure the company issues an entitlement letter before filing the claim shares from IEPF.
The process to Claim Shares from IEPF
Step 1: Filing to Authority by Claimant
If You wish to claim the shares, then you need to submit the IEPF form on the MCA Portal along with the following information attached to the form,
- Your Information (Claimant)
- The Company’s information on which the shares are due, along with the CIN number
- Details on the shares that need to be claimed
- Details on the amount of dividend
- If you are an Indian citizen, then you have to submit your Aadhar Number. In case you are NRI, then your Passport/OCI/PIO Card number.
- Details of the Bank Account to where the claim would be transferred (It needs to be connected with the Aadhar Card)
- Demat Account Number
Step 2: Submitting the Claim to the Company
Once you submit the form, you need to send a copy of the form within an envelope to the company from where you are getting the shares. You have to send the envelope to the nodal officer along with this information.
- Printout of the application form with your (Claimant) sign on it
- Copy of the acknowledgment with SRN number
- An original indemnity bond with your (Claimant) sign on a non-judicial stamp paper. The amount of the share needs to be mentioned under the stamp act.
- Original advance stamp paper with your sign along with your witnesses.
- If the shares are in physical form then you have to attach the original share certificate or copy of the transfer statement if the securities are in Demat form
- Aadhar card
- Proof of entitlement
- Passport/ PIO/ OCI, in case you (Claimant) are NRI
- Canceled Cheque
- Copy of the Demat account’s client master list
In addition to these, you need to label the envelope as “Claim for a refund from IEPF Authority” before sending it to the nodal officer.
Step 3: Submission of the claim by the company to IEPF
Once the company receives your claim, they need to prepare a report within 15 days and then send it to the IEPF authorities along with your documents.
Step 4: Refund from IEPF to the Claimant
Once the IEPF authorities receive the company’s claim on your behalf, they need to decide within 60 days. Once they validate your information, you are likely to receive the amount that you had claimed from IEPF.
Conclusion
After going through the process, you are well aware that Claim shares from IEPF are a complicated procedure. Even the smallest error can result in your failure to get the share. That is why you need to take assistance from the experts who can help you with your application to Claim shares from IEPF. By taking the assistance of the professionals you will be able to claim shares without any inconveniences.