Claim of share from IEPF

Posted by Infiny Solution on December 24th, 2021

IEPF stands for Investor Education and Protection Fund. Its role is to protect investors\' interests. IEPF creates awareness among investors with all instructions and information on their official site. The authority refunds of shares, matured deposits/debentures, unclaimed dividends, etc., to investors.

On the IEPF official site, there is no advice or evaluation on how to provide investment. Sometimes people cannot claim shares that have been transferred to IEPF by the company. There is a vast amount of unclaimed money piling up with the IEPF in the form of old equity shares, dividends, debentures, etc. If you are someone whose fund is lying with IEPF, you must track them and process your claim of share from IEPF.

The reason behind the rise of unclaimed shares or dividends

Some shares have had no corporate benefits and dividends claim for the past seven years. The government is planning to take over those unclaimed lying shares with IEPF. Following are the reasons behind those unclaimed shares or dividends.

• A company or financial institute has failed to locate or get in touch with you regarding your dividend payment. Sometimes a bank or other contact details get changed or updated frequently. Thus, companies lose sync of the updates about the same. If you have a huge investment, you might lose track of the amount you have invested in the company.

• Sometimes the nominees and legal heirs are unaware of the assets. Hence, they fail to claim them. 

• There are lost, torn, dismantled, or lost shares.

How to claim shares or refund?

Below are the steps you need to follow to get back your unclaimed shares or refund.

1. Go to the official website of IEPF, download the IEPF-5 form. Fill it for a refund. Always read the instructions very carefully on the instruction page along with the e-form before you start filling.

2. Save the form on your device after filling it. Follow the instructions mentioned in the upload link on the website to submit the duty filled form. After you successfully upload the form, an acknowledgment will be generated with the SRN. The SRN is used for tracking the record in the future. 

3. After uploading the form, take a printout of the duty-filled form and the acknowledgment issued.

4. As mentioned in the form IEPF-5, submit the indemnity bond in the original, copy of acknowledgment, and other documents with self-attested copy of e-form. This should be submitted to the Nodal Officer (IEFB) of the company at the registered office enclosed in an envelope with \"Claim for a refund from IEPF Authority\" written on top. 

5.  The concerned company will verify the claim forms in all aspects based on the company\'s verification report. Then the refund will be released by the IEPF Authority in favor of the claimant\'s Aadhaar linked bank account through electronic transfer.

Issues you may face while recovering unclaimed dividends from Investor Education and Protection Fund

Expired Records: In most cases, unclaimed dividends occur due to the result of false or expired details of investors or shareholders. There might be mismatches of bank and personal information like name, age, date of birth, address, father\'s name, and husband\'s name can lead to unclaimed dividends. There are companies who help and ensure smooth recovery in such cases. 

Absence or Improper of execution of transmission or transfer: Sometimes, the buyer\'s shares are registered in the seller\'s name because of poor implementation of the share transfer. 

Wrapping Up!

Cases of unclaimed shares or dividends are prevalent. Sometimes after the investor\'s death, the legal successor or nominee fails to transmit shares in their name. Some companies give you solutions for all such problems and help get back your claim of share from IEPF.