Moved House Since You Bought the Shares? Updating Address and KYC on a Physical Folio

Plenty of physical shareholdings were bought at an address the family left twenty years ago. Annual reports and dividend warrants went to the old house, nobody noticed, and after seven years of unclaimed dividends the company transferred the shares to IEPF.

If your shares are still with the company, updating the folio now is how you stop that happening.

Check where you stand

Write to the company's registrar, quoting the folio number and the holder's name, and ask for the details it holds: address, PAN, bank account, and whether any dividends are unpaid. If you don't know the registrar, here is how to find it.

If the registrar says the shares have already gone to IEPF, the route is an IEPF claim, not a KYC update. Check here.

What to send

Form ISR-1, signed by every holder, with:

• PAN: a self-attested copy for each holder
• Address proof: a self-attested copy of a document such as Aadhaar, passport, or a recent utility bill
• Bank details: a cancelled cheque with the holder's name printed, or a copy of the passbook or statement attested by the bank
• Email and mobile number: , filled in on the form

If your signature has changed

Signatures change over decades, and a mismatch is one of the most common reasons an update is refused. Send Form ISR-2 along with ISR-1. Your bank fills in part of ISR-2, confirming your signature as it holds it, and attests your photograph. Signature mismatch on shares.

If the name has changed

If the holder's name is different now, after marriage or a correction, include a document that shows both names, such as a marriage certificate or a gazette notification.

Nomination

While you're writing in, register a nominee on Form SH-13, or opt out on Form ISR-3. It saves your family trouble later. What happens with and without a nominee.

Once the folio is up to date

Unpaid dividends can be paid to the bank account on record, and the shares can be dematerialised. A physical share can't be sold on the exchange, so for most people demat is the next step. Converting physical shares to demat.