Services / Register 01
Recover unclaimed shares and dividends from the IEPF
How to find shares transferred to the Fund, file Form IEPF-5, and clear company verification
Shares transferred to the IEPF are the single largest pool of recoverable dormant financial assets in India, and the one with the most demanding paperwork.
Why shares end up with the IEPF
Under Section 124(5) of the Companies Act, 2013, a dividend that remains unpaid or unclaimed for seven years from the date it was due is transferred by the company to the Investor Education and Protection Fund.
Under Section 124(6), the shares in respect of which the dividend has been unclaimed for seven consecutive years are transferred to the Fund as well. Ownership is not extinguished: the Fund holds them, and the rightful claimant can apply to have them back.
Most holdings reach this state for ordinary reasons: a change of address that was never intimated to the registrar, a folio held in a maiden name, a physical certificate placed in a bank locker and forgotten, or a holder who died before the family knew what he owned.
How to claim shares back from the IEPF
We identify the folio and confirm the holding against company and registrar records, and against the IEPF Authority’s published claimant data.
Where the holder has died, we establish the chain of succession and assemble the entitlement evidence before any form is filed.
The company or its registrar issues an entitlement letter. Since the amendment effective 6 October 2025, this letter is required at the time of filing, not afterwards, which is why the sequence of work matters more than it used to.
Form IEPF-5 is filed on the MCA portal. An SRN is generated, the original documents go to the company’s nodal officer, and the company files its verification report with the IEPF Authority.
On acceptance, the dividend is credited to the claimant’s bank account and the shares to the claimant’s demat account.
What we need from you
- Proof of identity and PAN of every claimant
- Demat account client master list, and a cancelled cheque of the linked bank account
- Original share certificates, where the holding was in physical form
- Death certificate and succession evidence, where the holder is deceased
- Entitlement letter from the company or its registrar
- Indemnity bond and advance stamped receipt, in the prescribed form
No charge for the initial assessment, and no fee unless a recovery is made. Regulatory position reviewed 9 September 2026; we confirm the rules applicable to your matter at the time of filing.
Open a new entry
Ask us to look.
Tell us what you were told, or what you suspect. We will check the registers and reply with whether there is an entry worth pursuing. There is no charge to ask.