Retrieving Unclaimed Shares Got Easier

Govt body has accumulated shares worth `18,000 cr and unclaimed dividend of `2,300 cr

- Yagnesh Kansara

Software engineer Gautam Wadhwa is currently working with a multinational company in the US. His father, a former Government of India employee, passed away seven years ago while his mother is a homemaker.

This year when he came to visit his mother, Wadhwa came to know that his father had huge investments in equities. However, all the shares were in his name. The equity holding was deprived of all corporate benefits including dividend, bonus and rights as all of it remained unclaimed since his mother had shifted near their relative’s house after his father’s death and their family home was locked. He came to know about his father’s equity investments when they visited their family home.

Similar to the Wadhwas there are several such investors who invest their hard-earned money but do not keep their family members informed about them. Such unclaimed investments and corporate benefits then get transferred to Investment Protection & Education Fund (IEPF) after a period of seven years.

In the last 14 months, listed companies have transferred shares belonging to over 30 lakh investors to the IEPF.