Getting Shares from the IEPF into Your Demat Account
The claim does not end with filing Form IEPF-5. It ends when the securities are credited to a demat account in your own name — and between those two points sit the company's Nodal Officer, a verification report and the Authority's sanction. Here is the whole sequence, and where it stalls.
How the transfer actually works
Shares move to the Investor Education and Protection Fund when the dividends on them have gone unclaimed for seven consecutive years. Getting them back is a refund process, not a share transfer: you apply to the IEPF Authority, the company that issued the shares verifies that you are entitled to them, and the Authority then releases the securities into your demat account.
The sequence is: file Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal and obtain an SRN; send the physical documents to the company's Nodal Officer; the company files a verification report with the IEPF Authority; the Authority issues a refund sanction order; the shares are credited to your demat account and any dividend to your bank account.
Two things follow from that structure. The company, not the Authority, decides whether you are entitled — so the quality of what reaches the Nodal Officer determines the outcome. And you must have a demat account in your own name, in the same name as your PAN, before you apply, because there is nowhere else for the shares to go.
Our Step-by-Step Process
Confirm the shares are actually in the IEPF
Search the IEPF records against the shareholder's name before doing anything else. Some holdings that look lost are still sitting with the registrar, in which case this is an ordinary folio or transmission matter and a much shorter road.
Open or identify the receiving demat account
It must be in the claimant's own name and match the PAN. You will need a Client Master List from your depository participant, attested and generally not more than two months old. A mismatch here is one of the most common causes of rejection.
File Form IEPF-5 and note the SRN
The form is filed on the MCA portal. A revised version took effect in October 2025 with tighter validation, and an integrated portal launched in August 2025. Filing is free — anyone can do it without an intermediary.
Send the documents to the company's Nodal Officer
The indemnity bond, advance receipt, KYC, Client Master List, original certificates where they exist, and — where the holder has died — the death certificate and succession evidence. This packet is where claims are won or lost.
The company files its verification report
The Authority acts on the company's report. If something is missing, a request for further information is issued and there is a limited window to respond, so watch the email address and portal you filed from.
Sanction, then credit
On a refund sanction order the securities are credited to your demat account and any dividend to your bank account. Since 2 April 2026 the intermediate Letter of Confirmation has been abolished for service requests on physical securities — credit is direct.
The Global Equity Solutions Advantage
Direct credit since April 2026
SEBI removed the Letter of Confirmation step for duplicate issue, transmission, transposition and related requests on physical securities. Shares now go straight to the demat account instead of through a letter you had 120 days to use.
Deceased holders handled properly
Where the registered holder has died, the claim carries succession evidence on top of the ordinary IEPF paperwork. Attempting transmission at the registrar first is a common and costly mistake — once the shares are in the Fund, the folio no longer holds them.
Rejected claims re-filed
A rejection is not the end. Name mismatches, signature differences, wrong demat details and insufficient entitlement evidence are all correctable, and a corrected claim can be filed again.
NRI claims without travel
Documents are apostilled or consular-attested where you live, shares are credited to an NRO demat account, and a power of attorney lets a representative deal with the registrar in India.
Honest timelines
The government does not track an average settlement time, and neither will we pretend to. We tell you what stage your claim is at and what is actually holding it.
Fee only after credit
No advance professional fee. Our percentage is agreed in writing beforehand and payable once the securities are in your account. Statutory costs are yours at actuals.
Ready to recover your assets?
Free initial assessment — zero commitment.
Free IEPF assessment — fee only after credit
Common Questions Answered
File Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal and note the SRN, then send the physical documents — indemnity bond, advance receipt, KYC, Client Master List, and original certificates or succession evidence as applicable — to the Nodal Officer of the company that issued the shares. The company files a verification report with the IEPF Authority, and on a refund sanction order the shares are credited directly to your demat account.
Yes. The shares are credited electronically and there is nowhere else for them to go. The account must be in the claimant's own name and match the PAN, and you will need a Client Master List from your depository participant, usually not more than two months old.
There is no published figure, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told the Lok Sabha in July 2026 that no average settlement time is tracked, because it depends on the completeness of the claimant's documents and the company's verification report. In practice a clean claim by a living registered holder moves considerably faster than one involving a deceased holder and succession evidence, which routinely runs well beyond a year.
SEBI abolished it for service requests on physical securities with effect from 2 April 2026. Previously a duplicate issue or transmission ended with a Letter of Confirmation that you had 120 days to take to your depository participant; now the registrar credits the securities to your demat account directly. Letters issued before that date remained valid for their 120 days and have since expired — an expired letter does not affect your entitlement, but you will need to write to the registrar.
Yes, as the nominee, the surviving joint holder or the legal heirs. The claim carries succession evidence in addition to the usual IEPF documents, and the company verifies entitlement as part of its report. One order-of-operations point matters: do not try to complete a transmission at the registrar first, because once the shares are in the Fund the folio no longer holds them.
Yes, and for a straightforward case in your own name you should. Filing is free on the MCA portal and the IEPF records are searchable at no cost. An agent is worth paying when the holder has died, there are several heirs, certificates are missing or damaged, names or signatures do not match, or a claim has already been rejected.
A name mismatch between the folio, the PAN and the supporting documents; a signature that does not match the company's specimen; demat account details that do not belong to the claimant; succession evidence of the wrong type for the value involved; and missing the Authority's request for further information within its window. All of these are correctable, and a corrected claim can be filed again.
Don't Let Your Assets Remain Unclaimed
Every day you wait, your unclaimed shares and dividends sit idle. Our legal team has recovered over ₹250 Cr+ in assets for Indian families.