IEPF Entitlement Letter: What It Is, Who Issues It, and Why It Takes So Long

An entitlement letter is the company's written confirmation of what was transferred to IEPF from your folio or account: how many shares, and how much in dividends. It's what ties your claim to specific amounts.

Who issues it

The company, usually through its registrar and transfer agent. For companies whose registry is run by KFintech, for example, the letters come from KFintech.

Is it compulsory?

Practice varies. Since 6 October 2025, Form IEPF-5 asks whether you have an entitlement letter, with a yes or no answer, so the form itself contemplates claims without one. Many companies, however, set their own process in which you get the letter first and file afterwards. TCS, for instance, describes issuing it within 30 days of receiving your documents, before the IEPF-5 is filed.

Our advice: check the company's investor page for its IEPF claim procedure. If it asks for the letter first, follow that order. A claim filed out of sequence tends to come back.

How to request it

Write to the company's registrar, or the company's Nodal Officer for IEPF, with:

• The shareholder's name, the company, and the folio number or demat ID
• Copies of the share certificates if you have them, or any old dividend warrant or statement
• Your PAN, address proof and bank details, usually on the registrar's ISR forms
• If the shareholder has died: the death certificate and the transmission documents that show your right to claim

Why it gets delayed

• KYC incomplete on the folio: the registrar asks for Form ISR-1 before it will act. ISR forms explained.
• Signature mismatch: the registrar asks for Form ISR-2, your bank's confirmation of your signature
• The shareholder has died, and transmission isn't settled: the registrar needs to know you're the right claimant before confirming entitlement. Transmission after death.
• Certificates lost: the company may ask for an indemnity or other documents to cover the missing originals
• Old records: holdings from decades ago, sometimes in the name of a merged or renamed company, can take time to trace. Shares of merged or renamed companies.
• An incomplete request: the registrar writes back asking for something, and the letter goes unanswered

Following up

• Keep a copy of the request and the delivery proof
• Use the registrar's online tracking if it has one, and quote the reference in every message
• After a month without a reply, write to the company's compliance officer or Nodal Officer
• If that fails, SEBI's SCORES portal takes complaints against listed companies and registrars. How escalation works.

With the letter in hand, file Form IEPF-5 and answer "yes" to the entitlement letter question. What happens after filing.