A family member bought shares decades ago and the physical certificate is lost. The registrar has written asking for KYC documents. How do we recover the shares and any unpaid dividends?
1 Answers
It depends on whether the shares have already moved to the IEPF (Investor Education and Protection Fund).
First, find out where the shares are. If dividends went unclaimed for seven consecutive years, the company must transfer both the unpaid dividends and the shares to the IEPF Authority (Section 124(6) of the Companies Act). For holdings from decades ago, this is quite likely. Ask the registrar (RTA) in writing to confirm the current status of the folio and whether anything has gone to IEPF.
If the shares are still with the company:
- Submit the SEBI-prescribed KYC forms to the RTA: ISR-1 (KYC: PAN, address, bank, contact), ISR-2 (signature verification by the bank), and SH-13 (nomination), or ISR-3 to opt out.
- For the lost certificate, submit ISR-4 asking for duplicate shares, with the indemnity, affidavit and any newspaper advertisement the RTA asks for.
- Duplicate shares are now issued through a letter of confirmation, which you use to credit them to a demat account. Physical certificates aren't reissued.
If the shares or dividends went to IEPF:
- File Form IEPF-5 online on the IEPF portal, then send the signed form and KYC documents to the company's nodal officer.
- The company verifies the claim, and the IEPF Authority releases the shares to your demat account and the dividends to your bank. It takes months, but it works.
Keep copies of everything you send, and ask the RTA for a reference number for each submission.
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