Recovery of Asian Paints’ Shares from IEPF that Can Make You a Crorepati!
Do you think 50 shares of a company can make you a Crorepati? No, it is not a con advertisement you find on the internet these days. It is legit. If you or your ancestors have bought 50 shares of Asian Paints Ltd. before 1985, then the value of those shares in today’s date is worth almost ₹ 2 Crores.
History of the Company
Asian Paints Ltd. is currently India’s No. 1 and Asia’s No. 3 paint manufacturing company. It was incorporated in 1945 as a private company. The company went public in 1982 and got listed on the Stock Exchange. The company performed tremendously so much so that its per-share price reached more than ₹ 5, 000. Due to this high value, it had become difficult for retail shareholders to invest in the company. Therefore, in 2013, the company decided to split its stock into 10 shares. Thus, each new share was worth ₹ 500 each. From there also, the stock price has reached the price of more than ₹ 2, 100 per share now. The company is India’s leading paint company with the group turnover of ₹ 202.1 Billion. The company operates in 15 countries with 26 paint manufacturing facilities in the world, which serves consumers in over 60 countries.
Even during the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic, it continued to generate profits and provide dividends to its investors. For the first three quarters of the year 2020-21, the shares of Asian Paints Ltd. have provided an aggregated dividend of ₹ 12 per share to its shareholders. So, if there are 50 shares in your name, bought before 1985, then you would have received a dividend of ₹ 1, 10, 520 in the first three quarters of this year alone.
It is alright to be confused at this stage as to how ₹ 12 per share for 50 shares gives a dividend of ₹ 1, 10, 520. It should have yielded an income of only ₹ 600. This would have been the case if the company were not generous enough to issue huge amounts of bonus shares to its shareholders. You heard it right! Asian Paints Ltd. has issued a huge amount of bonus shares to its shareholders. The following calculation will illustrate how the 50 shares yielded the dividend of ₹ 1, 10, 520, and how they are worth almost ₹ 2 Crore today.
Calculation
- Suppose you bought 50 shares of Asian Paints in 1982.
- In 1985, the company issued bonus shares in the ratio of 3:5.
[Bonus Shares are issued by the company to its shareholders as fully paid up shares without any cost. In other words, the company by issuing bonus shares gives a gift to its shareholders].
Issuing bonus shares at a 3:5 ratio means, that for every 5 shares owned by a shareholder, the company will issue another 3 shares in his name. This means that if you had 50 shares in the beginning, it has now become 80 shares, i.e., 50 shares + 30 Bonus Shares.
- In 1987, the company again issued the bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2. Now, for every 2 shares a shareholder-owned, the company issued another share. Therefore, the 80 shares in your name have now become 120 shares.
- In 1992, the company again issued bonus shares at a 3:5 ratio. Now, your number of shares has increased from 120 to 192 shares (120 shares + 72 Bonus Shares).
- In 1996, the company issued bonus shares at a 1:1 ratio. Now your shares are doubled in the amount. Thus, it has increased to 384 shares.
- In 2000, the company issued another round of bonus shares at the ratio of 3:5. This means that the shareholder holding 384 shares will now receive 230 shares more. This makes the total number of shares, held by the shareholder in 2000, to be 614.
P.S.: The calculation shows the exact number to be 230.4, but since shares cannot exist in fractions, we have rounded off the number to 230 shares.
- After the 3 years, in 2003, the company again issued the bonus shares at the ratio of 1:2. The shareholding of every shareholder increased by 50%. This led to an increase in shares from 614 to 921.
- 10 years down the line, the company, in 2013, due to an extreme rise in its share price, split up its stock in the ratio of 1:10.
[A company splits its stock when the share price of the share increases to a great extent and it becomes difficult for the retail investors or small investors to invest in the shares of such companies. By splitting the stocks, the company increases the number of shares in the market while decreasing its price by the same proportion. In this way, there is no change in the net value of the market capital.]
The same thing happened with Asian Paints Ltd. Its stock price skyrocketed and was trading at the price range of ₹ 4, 500 to ₹ 5, 000 per share. It was becoming difficult for retail investors to buy the company’s stocks. Therefore, Asian Paints Ltd. did the stock split at the ratio of 1:10. This means that for every share, the shareholder got 10 shares, worth 1/10th of the original 1 share. This means that, earlier, if you had 10 shares of ₹ 5, 000 each, then now you have 100 shares of ₹ 500 each. Thus, no change in the net value of the shares worth ₹ 50, 000.
Due to the stock split, now your shares increased from 921 to 9, 210.
P.S.: Do not confuse it with Bonus Shares. Because unlike Stock Spilt, the price per share does not decrease while issuing Bonus Shares.
- Now, the price of 1 share of Asian Paints Ltd., as of 19th November 2020, is ₹ 2, 160. Thus, the value of your shares as of date is,
₹ 2, 160 x 9, 210 shares = ₹ 1, 98, 93, 600 (One Crore Ninety-Eight Lakhs Ninety-Three Thousand Six Hundred)
- The above amount is only the price of the shares. We have not calculated the dividends that you have received so far.
- Asian Paints is known for paying its investors generously. To date, the company has paid an aggregate dividend of ₹ 245.75 per share.
Now you can calculate your dividends accordingly.
So, if you had invested ₹ 1, 150 in the shares of Asian Paints Ltd. in 1982, then you would have become a Millionaire today. Now the issue is that you are not in the possession of the shares of Asian Paints Ltd., though you know that you are the rightful owner of the same. As per the Government’s rule, these shares are now treated as forgotten shares because no one has claimed dividends for seven years or more. Since the dividend remained unclaimed, the shares are now in the possession of the Government of India under the Investor Education and Protection Fund (“IEPF”). It was introduced in 2016 by the Government to resolve the issue of such ‘long lost and forgotten shares’.
About Investor Education and Protection Fund
As stated above, IEPF was introduced by the Government to take care of the unclaimed dividend and unclaimed shares on behalf of the rightful shareholders. People usually forget that they own shares in a company which is the reason why the dividends on such shares remain unclaimed for years. The reason to forget about the existence of the shares can be any of the following:
- Investors tend to forget to appoint a nominee for their shares. After their death, their heirs remain clueless about their ownership of such shares, and the shares remain deserted.
- The amount of investment is so small that the investor forgets about it.
- Shares become a part of the property dispute and remain without ownerless till the verdict of the court.
There could be some other reasons also that could lead to investors forgetting about the shares. Due to this, many companies have shares that lie with them without any sign of ownership.
Before the introduction of the IEPF, such unclaimed dividends and unclaimed shares were transferred to the government funds which were used by the government for various public welfare schemes and developmental works. When the people started claiming their dividends and asked to refund their shares, the government decided to set up IEPF. It is a medium that provides the public to approach it and claim their dividends and ask to refund their long-forgotten shares. They can claim their dividends and shares by applying to the managing authority of the fund manager. Due to the establishment of IEPF, people do not need to approach separate companies to procure their dividends and shares.
Laws Governing IEPF
Companies Act, 2013 and Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016 govern the functioning of the IEPF. These laws state that after a company declares its dividend, the shareholders get 30 days to claim the dividend. If the shareholders fail to claim, then the company is forced to transfer such unclaimed dividend to a special account, opened in the name of the company, called ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’.
The company, within 90 days of transferring the amount to the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’, has to publish a list of all the shareholders along with their unclaimed dividend on their website. After that, a shareholder has to file an application of claim to the company for the payment of the unclaimed dividend. If the dividends remain unclaimed for a consecutive period of 7 years, then the company is obliged to transfer the unclaimed dividend to the IEPF. Once the 7-year time period gets over, the shares also get transferred to the IEPF, along with the dividend amount.
Note: The shares transferred in the name of the IEPF are the shares on which the dividend has been declared by the company, but the shareholder has failed to claim the same for a consecutive period of 7 years.
Unclaimed Dividend & Unclaimed Shares of TCS
We can see the transfer status of the unclaimed dividend and unclaimed shares to the IEPF from the Annual Reports of a company.
Funds & Shares transferred to the IEPF
According to the Annual Report 2019-2020 of the company, Asian Paints has transferred the following unpaid dividend and unclaimed shares to the IEPF during the Financial Year of 2020:
| Financial Year | Amount of Unclaimed Dividend (in ₹) | Number of Unclaimed Shares |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-2012 | 74, 88, 881 | 63, 080 |
| 2012-2013 | 25, 78, 112 | 21, 150 |
| Total | 1, 00, 66, 993 | 84, 230 |
The company in the previous financial year has transferred One Crore Sixty-Six Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety-Three Rupees (₹ 1,00,66,993/-) of the unclaimed dividend, along with Eighty-Four Thousand Two Hundred Thirty (84,230) shares in the IEPF. It might seem that the unclaimed dividend transferred to the IEPF account is not much as compared to the other companies. But the number of unclaimed shares transferred to the IEPF account worth crores. The company has a huge chunk of unclaimed shares in the IEPF. The shareholders are advised to look into their investment history, or the ownership of shares passed on from a deceased family member and claim their dividends and shares from IEPF.
Funds & Shares to be transferred to the IEPF
The Annual Report 2019-2020 also provides the dates by which an investor can approach the Company’s Registrar or the Transfer Agent to claim dividends declared by the company. It also provides the amount of outstanding unclaimed dividends. After the expiry of the stated dates, Asian Paints Ltd. will be forced to transfer the outstanding amounts of dividends, along with the shares, to the IEPF.
The following table provides the information regarding the amount of dividend issued and the last dates by which the shareholders can claim those dividends.
For shareholders of Asian Paints Ltd.:
| S. No. | Particulars of Dividends | Amount of Unclaimed Dividend (in ₹) | Due Date for transfer to IEPF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Final Dividend 2012-13 | 1, 01, 35, 381.00 | 29th August, 2020 |
| 2 | Interim Dividend 2013-14 | 37, 28, 719.00 | 26th December, 2020 |
| 3 | Final Dividend 2013-14 | 95, 14, 349.00 | 30th August, 2021 |
| 4 | Interim Dividend 2014-15 | 53, 98, 476.00 | 22nd November, 2021 |
| 5 | Final Dividend 2014-15 | 1, 21, 76, 129.00 | 7th September, 2022 |
| 6 | Interim Dividend 2015-16 | 59, 30, 912.00 | 27th December, 2022 |
| 7 | Final Dividend 2015-16 | 2, 27, 35, 246.80 | 2nd September, 2023 |
| 8 | Interim Dividend 2016-17 | 1, 27, 94, 423.10 | 30th December, 2023 |
| 9 | Final Dividend 2016-17 | 3, 41, 45, 293.05 | 2nd September, 2024 |
| 10 | Interim Dividend 2017-18 | 1, 19, 19, 382.00 | 28th December, 2024 |
| 11 | Final Dividend 2017-18 | 2, 44, 44, 468.40 | 1st September, 2025 |
| 12 | Interim Dividend 2018-19 | 1, 07, 77, 779.73 | 26th December, 2025 |
| 13 | Final Dividend 2018-19 | 2, 99, 81, 841.75 | 31st August, 2026 |
| 14 | 1st Interim Dividend 2019-20 | 1, 19, 36 ,975.65 | 26th December, 2026 |
| 15 | 2nd Interim Dividend 2019-20 | 1, 90, 85, 916.85 | 30th April, 2027 |
The table above provides the deadlines to the shareholders of Asian Paints Ltd., to claim their dividends by applying to the Company’s Registrar or the Transfer Agent. After the due dates, provided in the 4th column, Asian Paints Ltd. will be forced to transfer the dividend funds (provided in the 3rd column) to the IEPF, along with the respective shares.
Funds & Shares transferred to the Asian Paints Limited – Unclaimed Suspense Account
| Particulars | No. of Shareholders | No. of Equity Shares | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Balance | Aggregate number of shareholders and the outstanding shares in the Unclaimed Suspense Account lying as on 1st April 2019 | 460 | 7, 00, 180 |
| Less | Number of shareholders who approached the Company for the transfer of shares and shares transferred from suspense account during the year | 22 | 44, 880 |
| Less | Number of shareholders whose shares got transferred from suspense account to IEPF during the year | 49 | 32, 880 |
| Closing Balance | Aggregate number of shareholders and outstanding shares lying in the suspense account as on 31st March 2020 | 389 | 6, 22, 420 |
The company has disclosed the details of the equity shares in ‘Asian Paints Limited – Unclaimed Suspense Account’ as per the requirements of the Regulations 34 and 39 read with Schedule V (F) of the Listing Regulations. According to the information provided in the above table, Six Lakhs Twenty-Two Thousand Four Hundred Twenty (6,22,420) shares are still pending in the ‘Unclaimed Suspense Account’ of the Company and the shareholders have time to claim them before it gets transferred to the IEPF account.
An investor can check the status of their unclaimed dividend, declared by Asian Paints Ltd., from https://www.asianpaints.com/more/investors/unclaimed-dividend.html
Unclaimed Shares & Lost Dividend under IEPF
What happens to the shares and the dividend transferred to the IEPF? Will you lose all your dividend income along with your shares?
A shareholder, before the introduction of IEPF, used to lose his rights over the dividend amount and the shares once they were transferred to the Government funds. But now, with the introduction of IEPF, a shareholder does not lose his/ her right over the dividend and the shares. However, companies still urge their shareholders to claim their dividends before the shares go into IEPF. The reason behind this is that the procedure of claiming the refund of dividend and the shares from IEPF is very time-consuming. IEPF takes a longer time to refund the amount and shares to the rightful owner because it wants to be 100% sure that the dividend and shares are given to the rightful owners only. Due to this, they carefully scrutinize the applications before giving their approval of the transfer. This is why Asian Paints Ltd. advises their investors to claim their dividend from the company by applying to the Company’s Registrar or the Transfer Agent, rather than claiming the refund of shares and the dividend amount from the IEPF. For this purpose, the Nodal Officer, appointed by the company under the rules of IEPF, is Mr. R. J. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary. Mrs. Radhika Shah, Chief Manager- Secretarial & Legal, has been appointed as the Deputy Nodal Officer.
Why do You Need Legal Help?
The procedure to file an application for the refund of unclaimed dividends and lost shares to the IEPF Authority is a tricky and tedious task. Hiring a legal expert will ease out your process of filing the application. The application filing requires a certain degree of technical knowledge. The legal expert will ensure that the application contains no mistakes and thus, avoids the chances of it getting rejected. He will do all the tasks; from collecting the information from the company about the dividend and shares to filing the said application.
The legal expert can also help you to get your shares that are involved in a family dispute. As stated above, when a shareholder dies without appointing a nominee for its shares or does not draft a will as to what will happen to its shares after his death, then all the relatives of the deceased shareholder come to claim their share in the deceased’s property, a.k.a., shares in this case. I mean who will leave the shares of Asian Paints Ltd. worth ₹ 2 Crores. No one, right! No family member of a deceased person will want to let go of the shares of Asian Paints Ltd. that were bought by him before 1985. Due to these reasons, a claimant requires the help of a legal professional or a legal firm to manage all such disputes related to ownership of the shares. A legal expert knows all the laws and nitty-gritty around the loopholes regarding the partition of the family assets, therefore, he can provide you with the best deal possible.
Conclusion…
As we have seen, Asian Paints is very generous in issuing bonus shares to its shareholders from time to time. Due to this generosity, the 50 shares bought before 1985 are now 9,210 shares in number. And as we know, the value of the shares has increased manifold. Thus, if you just came to know about the existence of such shares in your name, then it is the best time to redeem them, along with the dividend accumulated over time. ₹ 2 Crores, out of the blue is nothing less than winning a lottery. It is advised that you check the tables provided above and find the expiry date by which you can claim the dividend from Asian Paints Ltd. If not already transferred into the IEPF, then apply for the dividend claim as soon asiaas possible. You will have to apply to the Nodal/ Deputy Nodal Officer of the Company, i.e., Mr. R. J. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary, and Mrs. Radhika Shah, Chief Manager- Secretarial & Legal, respectively. However, if your dividend amount and shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then find a legal expert as soon as possible, and apply to the IEPF Authority for the refund of the unclaimed dividend and the recovery of the transferred shares. Hiring a legal expert will also help you to fight for the shares stuck in a legal dispute.