Investor Education and Protection Fund are referred to as IEPF. By the provisions of Section 125 of the Companies Act 2013, which covers rules and regulations imposed for investors as well as businesses connected to the IEPF, the Government of India established it under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It was created to safeguard the interests of investors whose dividends on the Indian Stock Exchange have not yet been paid.
Except for bonus or split shares of such seven years, the investors’ dividends or shares are transferred to the IEPF Authority when they are not claimed or cashed for seven years. Therefore, shares from the IEPF are recovered using government authority. You can get the information you need to claim shares from the IEPF government body by using this blog.
What is IEPF?
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The Central Government of India (GoI) created the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), which was established under Section 125 of the Companies Act 2013, to safeguard the interests of investors and raise awareness. Investors’ shares that have been lost or are unclaimed are gathered and credited to the IEPF.
The central government of India appoints the chairman or CEO and the other 7 members of the IEPF Authority. In compliance with the Act’s provisions, the IEPF Authority manages the IEPF funds and keeps separate accounts for the Recovery of Shares from IEPF and other pertinent records relating to the funds. This is done following consultation with the Comptroller & Auditor-General of India. Each year, the Authority will send the Central Government of India the accounts and the audit report.
Importance of IEPF
Companies used to transfer unclaimed dividends and unclaimed shares to the government funds before claiming shares from the iepf, which were then used for various public welfare programs and various development projects. Yet, the incidence of people forgetting their shares was rising daily, costing investors a great deal of money. So, the government introduces a program called IEPF, where all unclaimed shares are moved to an IEPF account. The sum transferred by the corporations for such claim shares from IEPF shall be used for the benefit and awareness of the investors. Instead of visiting each company separately, people can claim their dividends and shares related to various companies under a single platform.
A shareholder can file Form IEPF-5 on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website to claim the shares from IEPF. The joint holder, legal heir, or nominee may claim shares from the IEPF of a deceased person in the event of the death of the shareholder. You can receive a free consultation from Best Share Recovery Consultant Legalraasta, which can provide you with the appropriate counsel for obtaining a claim, and expert guidance to help you reach your financial objectives more quickly.
What are the IEPF’s Purposes in India?
To improve investor education and protect investor interests, the Central Government established the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF).
If a corporation has sent unclaimed or underpaid funds to the IEPF, individuals may ask for a refund from the IEPF Authorities.
The corporation is required to provide the IEPF Authority with the statement explaining the specifics of the transfer in the approved format, IEPF-5, and the Authority will issue a receipt as proof of the transfer for unclaimed dividend transfer to iepf.
The corporation shall transfer to the IEPF the shares for which the dividend has not been paid or claimed for more than seven years and shall deliver a declaration specifying the terms of the transfer.
Dematerialization is the process of converting physical things into digital form. Since the physical transfer of shares is prohibited by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), this dematerialization allows for the transfer of shares.
Step 1: Before claiming shares from the IEPF, the claimant must first establish that the company has completed the share transmission procedure and has issued an entitlement notice.
Step 2: Complete Form IEPF-5 online and send it to the official MCA website the government with all the necessary information. Only one claim may be made each year, and if the Form is denied for any of the listed reasons, the next year may be used to request shares from the IEPF.
Step 3: You will be given an SRN number to follow the status of the report when the Form has been submitted successfully.
Step 4: To begin the verification of the claim from the IEPF, the claimant should transmit the identical form, along with all necessary supporting documentation, to the Nodal officer after submitting the e-form.
Step 5: Within 15 days of obtaining the claim form, the corporation must provide a verification report to the Authority detailing whether the authentication was accepted or rejected.
Step 6: A penalty of fifty rupees per day is imposed on the company if the online verification report is not supplied by the company within thirty days of the claim being filed. The corporation will be punished by the act’s requirements if it fails to provide a report verifying the allegation.
Step 7: The IEPF authority issues a sanction order for a refund of shares in the claimant’s favor after verifying the claimant’s eligibility and the verification report. After the company submits the verification report to the IEPF Authorities, the shares will be credited to the claimant’s Demat account within 60 days after that date.
- A Copy of the acknowledgment i.e.SRN number.
- An indemnity bond.
- For IEPF shares, submit an advance stamped receipt.
- Certificate for the return of bonds, debentures, or deposits that have matured.
- Aadhar cards for all joint holders and the claimant.
- PAN Card for unclaimed dividend transfer to the claimant’s proper attestation on the iepf Client Master List.
- Passport, including OCI and PIO cards in the case of foreigners and NRIs, Share Certificate, Proof of Entitlement, and Cancelled Cheque.
- Details of the verification report and bank account.
- Information about the application, including the CIN number of the business.
- Information on the shares to be claimed, dividends that have been claimed, and securities or deposits made each year.
- Certificate of death for the dead joint holder.
- No Nominee: It is typical to see investors leave their shares without a nominee following their passing. In this situation, the shares are still unclaimed because the legal heirs are ignorant of them. This is a justification for claiming a deceased person’s IEPF shares.
- Little Investments: Another factor could be that when an investor makes a modest investment, they are more likely to forget about it.
- Property Dispute: In cases where shares are attached to the court due to litigation involving a property dispute, the shares remain ownerless until the court issues its ruling. Another reason for lost and unclaimed shares is when an investor forgets they own stock in the company; as a result, the corporation has trouble identifying the true owner of the shares.
Conclusion –
The Companies Act needs to be changed, according to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), so that the government can take over the task of transferring shares from corporations. The claimant would have to approach the government to transfer shares into his or her name as a result of the changes to the Companies Act, according to ministry officials. It is advised that shareholders keep track of their money and claim their dividends on time.
We sincerely hope you liked reading our blog and learned something useful. We hope that this blog post has helped to clear up some of your questions about claiming shares from the iepf. If you still have questions, you may contact Legalraasta Advisor, the top share recovery consultant in India, who will help you through the process quickly and easily.
