Recovery of Lost or Unclaimed Shares (IEPF)

Check whether you have received dividends from the company in the last seven years. If not, the shares may have been transferred under Section 124(6). Under Section 124(2), companies publish details of unpaid dividends on their websites, and the IEPF Authority’s website has its own search for unclaimed amounts and shares. We can run this search for you and confirm the position with the company’s registrar.

IEPF-5 is the web form used to claim shares, unclaimed dividends or both from the IEPF Authority. It is filed on the MCA portal, one form for each company, covering up to 15 folios of that company. Since 6 October 2025 it asks for the company’s entitlement letter, Aadhaar for Indian citizens and a 16-digit demat account number. With the papers in order, the form itself is straightforward.

It is a letter from the company confirming that you are entitled to the shares or dividend held in the IEPF. You get it by sending your documents to the company’s nodal officer or its registrar, who verify them against their records. The revised IEPF-5, effective 6 October 2025, requires this letter to be declared and uploaded. Getting the letter first saves a later rejection.

No, recovered shares are credited only to a demat account in the claimant’s name. That is true for IEPF claims and, for listed companies, duplicate certificates as well, which are issued in demat form through a letter of confirmation. So open a demat account first, in exactly the name and PAN that appear on your claim. Once it is active, the rest of the process follows.

You apply for a duplicate under Section 46 and Rule 6 of the Share Capital Rules. Since SEBI’s circular of 24 December 2025, holdings up to ₹10 lakh in listed companies need only a standard affidavit-cum-indemnity, and up to ₹10,000 a plain-paper undertaking. Above ₹10 lakh you also need an FIR or police complaint and a newspaper notice. A lost certificate is a common problem with a clear fix.

Through transmission under Section 56(2). If the holder registered a nominee in Form SH-13, the nominee applies with the death certificate. Otherwise the company asks for a succession certificate, probate or other legal heir papers, depending on the value and its own policy. A succession certificate needs a petition before the District Judge, which a practising advocate files. Here is the catch: a nominee is not the final owner, as the Supreme Court held in Shakti Yezdani (2023). We help you put together the right set for each company.

It depends mostly on how quickly the company verifies your papers. Under Rule 7 the company has 30 days from receiving the claim to file its verification report. The Authority then processes it and may ask questions, which must be answered promptly. Claims with clean documents and a matching demat account go fastest. We track each stage and chase the company so nothing sits idle.

Yes. Since the October 2025 revision, IEPF-5 can be filed by an authorised representative with a signed authority letter. The representative’s name, qualification and membership or PAN details go on the form. The claimant’s contact details are still verified by OTP, so the claim stays in your control. This helps clients who live outside India.

Yes, and it is far simpler. Under Section 124(1), a dividend not paid within 30 days of declaration goes into the company’s Unpaid Dividend Account within the next seven days. While it sits there, you claim it directly from the company or its registrar, usually with a request letter, ID proof and bank details. Only after seven years does it move to the IEPF. So an early claim saves a lot of effort.