The time taken for reclaiming shares and dividends from the Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF) is expected to come down significantly as the government proposes to tweak the process. In the budget for FY23, the government proposed creation of a new portal through which all such claims will be processed.
Shares or dividends unclaimed for seven consecutive quarters are transferred into IPEF and investors need to file an application with the IPEF authority to get back the possession of these shares.
Currently, the process is manual and takes several months. But with the introduction of the new portal, the process will become automatic and faster.
“For investors to reclaim unclaimed shares and unpaid dividends from the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority with ease, an integrated IT portal will be established,” said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget speech.