Centre to work with firms to return unclaimed assets

Govt aims to streamline refund process, but flow of funds into IEPF has been rising every year

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The government is planning to work closely with businesses and market players like share transfer agents to find the rightful owners of unclaimed dividends, corporate deposits and share application money to stem the surging flow of such amounts to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), two persons familiar with the development said.

Companies are required to transfer such unclaimed amounts to IEPF, administered by the IEPF Authority (IEPFA) if they could not identify the rightful owners for seven years. IEPFA is attached to the ministry of corporate affairs.

The government has been trying to make the process easier for beneficiaries to claim such amounts and to streamline the refund process, but the flow of funds into IEPF has been going up every year, leading to an increase in the size of the fund even after making refunds and returning shares, the first of the two people cited earlier said, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.