How To Find Your Unclaimed Wealth? Here's All You Need To Know

Unlock your hidden wealth: Getting to know the status of  shareholdings or unclaimed dividends that remain transferred with the Investor Education Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) can become a away, once the proposed service is underway. You as an Indian citizen can dive deep into an integrated IT portal to check the status of your or even your parents/grandparents lost wealth. In an exclusive interview with Republic Business, Sanchit Garg, CEO & Co-Founder, GLC Wealth elaborates on ways to help you find your unclaimed wealth.

IEPF Authority portal? 

Unclaimed wealth primarily in the form of investments in shares and accrued dividends has to be claimed through the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal on the IEPF Authority’s website www.iepf.gov.in. 
A claimant has to fill in the necessary details such as name, PAN, Aadhaar, contact details, name of the company, and number of shares/dividends claimed and upload all requisite documents such as a copy of PAN, Aadhaar, canceled cheque, Demat account client master list, said the GLC Wealth head Garg.

Fulfilling KYC norms  

As per Garg, it is imminent that before filing a claim on the government portal, an entitlement letter is issued by the concerned companies in favour of the claimant. This is to avoid any rejections in the process, said Garg, while highlighting the need for  documents such as KYC, cheque, CML, and death certificates of deceased holders. 

Image Credit: Unsplash 

The Passport/OCI in case of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)  should be kept handy as the same has to be uploaded, Garg further added.  “Further, the form has to be filled in the prescribed time as delay causes logging out from the portal. After successfully filing the claim, signed printouts of the claim form along with attachments have to be sent to the Nodal Officer of the concerned companies who has to verify the documents and upload the Verification Report on the government Portal,” Garg said.

The government had proposed setting up of the Integrated IT Portal for easy filing and tracking of the claims of the investors in the Union Budget 2023. However, the same is under development and has not been launched, said Garg.  However, the rules governing the refund of shares have been eased to assist investors in claiming their unclaimed wealth with a standard set of documents, the GLC Wealth head Garg added.  
“Wealth which has been lost/forgotten/lying idle for many years is termed as unclaimed. People lose track of their old investments if the investment certificates are lost or there is a change of address, change of name post marriage, death of an Investor,” said Garg.

Seeking professional help  

Recovery of unclaimed wealth and investments is a niche domain, requiring both financial and legal understanding. There are very few professionals offering complete expertise in this domain, said Garg, adding that However, some professionals have been assisting investors in locating their unclaimed investments, providing legal guidance in case of inheritance issues,” Garg added.  
In order to resolve all documentary discrepancies, one has to approach different companies, government departments, and banks and in many cases obtain court orders to decide the rights of legal heirs so that claims can be filed, said Garg.
“As such, claiming of old unclaimed wealth is a long and cumbersome process requiring persistent and diligent follow-up with all concerned bodies,” added the GLC Wealth founder Garg.