Unclaimed shares: Canara Bank has issued an advert dated 29 September 2025 requesting the shareholders to claim their dividend before 31 December 2025, failing which the shares will be transferred to IEPF (Investor Education and Protection Fund).
Unclaimed for seven years
A company is supposed to transfer shares to IEPF in respect of which dividend has not been paid or claimed for a period of seven consecutive years.
Accordingly, the transfer of corresponding shares on which the dividend was unclaimed/unpaid for seven consecutive years or more to IEPF is due on 31 Dec 2025, the notice by Canara Bank reads.
The notice further mentions that the bank has already sent a specific communication to the concerned shareholder (s) whose unclaimed/unpaid shares are liable to be transferred to IEPF, requesting them to claim their dividend before the due date, i.e., 31 Dec 2025. If the shareholders do not claim their dividend before this due date, the shares will be transferred to the IEPF.
And once they lie under the custody of IEPF, shareholders are not authorised to make a claim against the bank in respect of either unclaimed dividend or shares, the notice noted.
We now describe the process to claim the shares back from the IEPF
How to claim the shares back from IEPF
1. To claim the shares and dividend, one must fill out an online application and submit IEPF-5.
2. The shareholders must also send physical documents to the company’s Nodal officer after online submission.
3. It is also required to reach out to the Registrar and Transfer Agent (RTA) to obtain an entitlement letter.
4. The shareholder should also register on the MCA website.
The notice further mentions that for the shareholders who are holding shares in physical form – a new certificate will be issued in lieu of the original share certificate (s) and transferred to IEPF after completion of necessary formalities. As a result, the original share certificate registered in the name of the shareholder will stand cancelled.
And for the shareholders holding shares in demat form, shares will be transferred in favour of IEPF. Consequently, all future benefits arising on such shares would also be transferred to IEPF, the notice reads.
For all personal finance updates, visit here