The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016 provide a defined procedure for the recovery of shares and dividend amounts transferred to the IEPF. FISC prepares, files, and follows through the complete claim process on your behalf, from Form IEPF-5 to final credit of assets.
The Investor Education and Protection Fund was established under Section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013. Amounts representing unclaimed dividends, matured deposits, application money due for refund, interest accrued thereon, and any other amount as prescribed are required to be transferred to the IEPF after remaining unclaimed for seven years. Shares in respect of which such dividends have been transferred are also transferred to the Fund. The Fund does not extinguish the right of the beneficial owner; the right of recovery remains with the shareholder or legal heir.
A claim for refund from the IEPF is made by filing Form IEPF-5 electronically on the MCA portal. The form requires details of the claimant, the company, the folio, the nature of the claim, and the DEMAT account into which the shares are to be credited. On submission, an acknowledgement is generated and the claimant is required to send the physical documents along with a copy of the form to the Nodal Officer of the company. The Nodal Officer verifies the documents and prepares a verification report, which is forwarded to the IEPF Authority. The IEPF Authority issues a refund sanction order and directs the credit of shares and amounts to the claimant's account.
FISC identifies all amounts and shares to which the client is entitled from the IEPF across multiple companies where applicable. We prepare the Form IEPF-5 application, compile the supporting documents, submit the physical documents to the Nodal Officer, follow up on the verification report, and attend to any deficiency or query raised by the IEPF Authority at any stage of the process. Legal heirs of deceased shareholders require an additional transmission step before filing the IEPF claim; FISC advises on and manages this step as part of the complete service.