Rs 2,000 cr of unclaimed dividends lying with investor protection authority

Senior government officials say there are at least 2.5 million investors who have not claimed their dividends

Unclaimed dividend payments worth Rs 2,000 crore are lying with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA).

Any payment that investors have not claimed has to be transferred to this authority. The investor then has to claim it from the authority. Senior government officials said there were at least 2.5 million such investors. 

Most of the cases relate to those who have shares in paper form and not dematerialised ones.  A government official told Business Standard, “There are claims up to lakhs of rupees. 99 per cent of such shares are in physical form.” The official said in many cases shares