The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is a fund set up under the Companies Act, 2013 to hold investor money and shares that have gone unclaimed for a long time, and to fund investor-education initiatives. If a dividend on a stock you hold stays unclaimed long enough, the dividend and the shares behind it are transferred to the IEPF, but you (or your legal heir) can always claim them back.
Who administers the IEPF?
The IEPF Authority, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
What counts as an "unclaimed" or "unpaid" dividend?
A dividend a company declares but you don't claim or encash within 30 days of the declaration date is treated as unpaid/unclaimed. The company then moves it out of its regular account into a separate Unpaid Dividend Account.
When do my shares or dividends actually move to the IEPF?
If a dividend sits unclaimed in the company's Unpaid Dividend Account for 7 consecutive years without being claimed, the company is required to transfer that dividend amount, and the shares it relates to, to the IEPF.
Will my shares still move if I claimed a dividend at some point in those 7 years?
No. As long as you claim or receive at least one dividend during any year in that 7-year window, the shares are not transferred. The clock only runs out when a dividend goes unclaimed for all 7 consecutive years.
How do I check if my shares or dividends were transferred to the IEPF?
Check with the company's Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA), or look up your folio/demat details against the IEPF Authority's records on the MCA portal.
How do I claim my shares or dividends back from the IEPF?
Broadly:
- Get an entitlement letter from the company's RTA confirming what's due to you.
- Register on the MCA/IEPF portal and file Form IEPF-5 online.
- Send the signed printout along with the required supporting documents (identity/bank proof, indemnity bond, etc.) to the company's Nodal Officer.
The company verifies your claim and forwards it to the IEPF Authority, which gives final approval, so processing time depends on both. If a claim is rejected, you're told why and can correct and resubmit it.
Does this affect my Rupeezy holdings?
The 7-year unclaimed-dividend transfer to the IEPF is a Companies Act requirement that applies to every company and every depository participant. It isn't something Rupeezy controls or opts into. Keeping your contact and bank details updated is what keeps dividends from going unclaimed in the first place — and you can track the dividends and other corporate actions on your holdings from the app (see How do I view corporate actions on Rupeezy?).