Part of our guide to NRI share recovery
Every route for recovering physical shares now ends with a credit to a demat account. For an NRI, the account can't be any account: it has to match how the shares were acquired, because that decides whether the money can leave India freely.
The difference
- NRE (repatriable): for investments made from money brought into India from abroad. Proceeds can generally be taken back out without the annual limit.
- NRO (non-repatriable): for Indian-source money and assets, including anything you owned while resident in India, and anything you inherit from a resident. Money can be taken out, but within an annual limit and with paperwork.
Which fits your shares
- Shares bought while you lived in India: when you became an NRI, the resident demat account should have been redesignated as an NRO account. Shares recovered from those holdings, including through IEPF, belong there.
- Shares inherited from a parent or relative in India: generally NRO
- Shares bought after you became an NRI, with funds sent from abroad: NRE, through the portfolio investment route
If you're not sure, ask your bank and depository participant before opening an account. They apply FEMA rules to your own facts, and an account opened on the wrong basis is tedious to fix.
The linked bank account
A demat account for an NRI is linked to a bank account of the same type. Dividends and sale proceeds from NRO shares go to the NRO bank account.
Taking money out of India
From NRO balances, including the sale proceeds of inherited assets, NRIs can remit up to USD 1 million per financial year. The bank will usually want Form 15CA, a chartered accountant's certificate in Form 15CB, and evidence of the source, such as the transmission documents for inherited shares.
Before the claim is filed
- Open the demat account first. Registrars and the IEPF Authority credit only to an account you already hold.
- Make sure the account name matches your PAN and passport exactly
- Keep KYC current, with your overseas address
- Get a Client Master List from the depository participant. Registrars want one under two months old.
Related: NRI legal heirs claiming a parent's shares · Old Reliance shares.
Procedures detailed in this guide cite sovereign circulars, statutory rules, and court precedents governing Indian securities and estate transmission:
- Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999: Transfer or Issue of Security to Person Resident Outside India Reference: FEM (Non-debt Instruments) Rules 2019RBI
- Hague Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961 (MEA India Consular Attestation Guidelines) Reference: Ministry of External Affairs, IndiaHigh Court / Supreme Court
About Amit Midha
Co-Founder & Wealth Advisory Head · B.Com & PGDM (Wealth Management & Securities Markets)Wealth advisor and client advocacy head with extensive experience tracing lost physical share portfolios, uncredited dividends, and cross-border assets for Non-Resident Indians.
Free review for NRIs
Tell us your country of residence and what you are claiming. We explain the documents, how to authenticate them, and the demat account you will need.