How to Claim Shares From IEPF: IEPF-5 Refund Process 2026

How to claim shares from IEPF: get an entitlement letter from the company or its registrar, then file the revised Form IEPF-5 online on the MCA portal (in use since 6 October 2025) with OTP verification, your bank details, a cancelled cheque and a demat account. The company’s Nodal Officer verifies the claim and sends a report to the IEPF Authority, which then returns the shares to your demat account and refunds dividends to your bank. Transfer to the IEPF is not forfeiture: section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013 keeps your right to claim.

How shares and dividends end up in the IEPF

When a company declares a dividend that is not paid or claimed within 30 days, the money goes into a special Unpaid Dividend Account. If it stays there for seven years, the company must transfer it to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF). The shares follow if no dividend has been paid or claimed on them for seven consecutive years. If even one dividend in that run was claimed, the shares stay with the company.

This usually happens through an old address, an uncashed warrant, physical certificates forgotten in a cupboard, or a death in the family. The money and shares still belong to the owner or the legal heirs.

Step 1: find out what is there

• Search the IEPF Authority’s website (iepf.gov.in) by name and company.
• Check the unclaimed dividend lists that companies publish on their websites.
• Go through old papers: share certificates, dividend warrants, annual reports, registrar letters.
• Write to the company’s registrar and transfer agent (RTA) for the holding and dividend history.

Before working out how to claim shares from IEPF, check whether they are still with the company. If they are, claim directly from the company or RTA. That is much simpler than an IEPF claim, so act before the seven years run out.

How to claim shares from IEPF using Form IEPF-5

1. Get the entitlement letter. Ask the company or its RTA for a letter confirming your entitlement to the shares and amounts. This is often the slowest step, so request it first.
2. Fix your KYC. Name, PAN, address and Aadhaar particulars should match across your KYC record, demat account and bank account. Mismatches are the commonest cause of delay.
3. Keep a demat account ready. Shares are returned only in demat form. If you hold physical certificates, they will not come back as paper.
4. File IEPF-5 online on the MCA portal. The revised form uses OTP verification of your mobile number and email. One form covers up to 15 folios and 15 entries of amounts (dividends, matured deposits or debentures).
5. Attach bank details with a cancelled cheque leaf and the documents the form asks for. A claim can be filed by you or by an authorised representative with an authority letter.
6. Track the Service Request Number (SRN). The company’s Nodal Officer checks the claim against its records and sends an online verification report to the IEPF Authority, which releases the shares and money.

Example: Sunita in Kanpur finds her late father’s certificates for three companies. For one, dividends were claimed until 2018, so the shares are still with the company and she claims transmission through the RTA. For the second, the shares had moved to the IEPF, so she gets an entitlement letter, files IEPF-5 with her succession documents and tracks the SRN. The third company was struck off, so she takes advice on whether any claim survives.

Claiming as a legal heir or nominee

If the shareholder has died, the claim also needs transmission documents: the death certificate and, depending on the case, documents such as an affidavit, indemnity, no-objection letters from other heirs, a legal heir certificate, a succession certificate or letters of administration. SEBI simplified transmission rules from August 2026; see transmission of shares after death and succession certificate procedure. Remember that a nominee receives the holdings but holds them for those entitled under the will or succession law.

Delays and pending changes. Follow up in writing quoting the SRN. A SEBI SCORES complaint can help where a listed company or its RTA is not issuing the entitlement letter (see SEBI SCORES complaint). In January 2026 the IEPF Authority published draft amendments proposing faster handling of low-value claims; as on 31 October 2026 these were still proposals, so check iepf.gov.in before filing.

Old bank deposits are different: deposits not operated for ten years go to the RBI’s DEA Fund. Search on RBI’s UDGAM portal (udgam.rbi.org.in) and claim at the bank.

Frequently asked questions

How to claim shares from IEPF online?

Obtain an entitlement letter from the company or its registrar, then file the revised Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal with OTP verification, bank details, a cancelled cheque and your demat account details. After the company verifies the claim, the IEPF Authority credits the shares to your demat account and refunds dividends to your bank.

Why were my shares transferred to IEPF?

Under section 124 of the Companies Act, 2013, shares move to the IEPF Authority when no dividend has been paid or claimed on them for seven consecutive years. Unclaimed dividends themselves move after seven years in the company’s Unpaid Dividend Account.

Can a legal heir claim shares from IEPF?

Yes. A legal heir or nominee can file Form IEPF-5 with the entitlement letter and the transmission documents the company requires, such as the death certificate, affidavit, indemnity and, depending on value, a succession certificate or legal heir certificate.

Will I get physical share certificates back from IEPF?

No. Shares are returned to the claimant’s demat account, so open or update a demat account before filing.

Quick quiz

For how to claim shares from IEPF with step-by-step formats, see Legal Rights of Investors (₹349), which teaches rights and remedies, not what to invest in. It gives a Lexfolio certificate of completion, not a professional qualification.

Sources

• Companies Act, 2013: ss.124, 125
• IEPF Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016, as amended by the IEPFA Amendment Rules, 2025 (revised Form IEPF-5 from 6 October 2025)
• RBI Depositor Education and Awareness Fund; UDGAM portal

This page is for education and general information, not legal advice for a specific case. Law as on 31 October 2026.