In an attempt to expedite the refund of unclaimed shares and dividends to the rightful parties, the government is working on setting up an integrated digital portal soon. The facility would make the process of “searching and claiming the lost shares easier”.
According to official sources, the proposed information technology portal would be operational by early 2025.
The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA), the organisation responsible for refunding unclaimed shares, has already prepared a blueprint on the functionality of the portal. “Once operational, the refund process will speed up significantly,” a official said.
As of now, the total number of unclaimed shares lying with the IEPFA is over 1.1 billion, valued about Rs 1 lakh crore. The total value of unclaimed dividends stands at about Rs 5,700 crore.
The sources said that the new IT portal will equip IEPFA to efficiently process and refund unclaimed shares to rightful claimants “in a timely manner.”
The government has put on back burner to entrust companies with the responsibility of managing these refunds. In a discussion paper issued in March, the IEPFA had said that to ease the process, it is being explored that the process of claim and refund will be done based upon the verification of the respective companies. “The Authority shall, based upon the approval of the company, refund the shares and the amount, as the case may be, to the respective company for further refunding it to the rightful claimant,” the paper had said.
However, with the new IT portal, shares and dividends currently stuck in the IEPFA will be “just a click away.” Claimants will have the ability to easily track the status of their own unclaimed shares or even locate wealth lost by their ancestors, the sources said.
Meghna Mishra, senior partner at Karanjawala & Co said that the new digital portal IEPFA will streamline the process of claiming refunds by rightful claimants and provide easy access, reduce paperwork and processing time, and improve overall efficiency. “The effectiveness will of course also depend on the user-friendliness of the portal and the responsiveness of the support systems in place,” she said.
Kinjal Champaneria, partner at Solomon & Co said that prioritizing a centralised digital portal, instead of relying on companies, is a welcome step and will certainly enhance transparency, efficiency, and accountability. “This portal will be most beneficial to the legal heirs in tracing any unknown investments made by their ancestors directly without any corporate intermediaries,” he added.
In recent weeks, IEPFA has launched a call centre and a revamped Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) to enhance the resolution of investor queries. The authority has also been organising “Niveshak Sunwais” to advance financial literacy nationwide and safeguard investors.