How to claim unpaid, unclaimed dividend

Dividends are declared out of profits made by a company and distributed to shareholders. But if they are unclaimed for more than seven years, they are transferred by the company to Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF). Here’s how to claim them.

Form IEPF–5
The rightful claimant or legal representative of a deceased person needs to fill the IEPF-5 form on the IEPF website (https://www.iepf.gov.in/IEPF/refund.html).


Documents
The following documents need to be provided:

• Aadhaar card of holder (passport/OCI/PIO card in case of NRIs).
• Client master list of demat account of the claimant.
• Proof of entitlement—share certificate, dividend warrant, transaction statement, etc.
• In case of death of original shareholder, notarised copy of death certificate along with succession certificate/probate or Will and NOC from other holders.
• Indemnity bond for transmission.

Process
After the application is submitted, a service request number is generated. Original copy of indemnity bond, copy of acknowledgement form, IEPF-5 form and other documents need to be submitted physically to the nodal official appointed by the company.

Verification and processing of refund
After the application is approved by the company, the IEPF will released the refund and credit it to the applicant’s bank account.

Points to note

• Shares transferred to the IEPF are debited from the demat account. If they were held in physical form, they are deemed to be cancelled.
• Any further dividends on such shares are credited to the IEPF until they are claimed by the rightful owner.

Content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL).
Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta.