Recover Shares of Kotak Mahindra from IEPF

In 32 years, a one-lakh-rupee investment grew to 1,400 crores. This Is The Real Deal.

A lakh invested in 1985 is today worth Rs. 1,400 crore. This demonstrates the Kotak Mahindra Group’s rapid expansion over the previous three decades. Today, the Kotak Mahindra Group is a prominent financial services company in India. “An investment of Rs. 100,000 in the Kotak Group in November 1985 is now worth Rs. 1,400 crore, representing a compounded growth rate of 40% over the past 32 years,” Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said recently in a statement, while launching the bank’s new ‘811’ savings account scheme.

Kotak Capital Management Finance Limited, the forerunner of the Kotak Mahindra group, was founded in 1985. Uday Kotak, Sidney A. A. Pinto, and Kotak & Firm marketed this company. Anand Mahindra, an industrialist, was an early supporter of the Kotak Group and recently stated that it was one of his greatest moves. Harish Mahindra and Anand Mahindra, industrialists, bought a share in the firm in 1986, and the name was changed to Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited. Kotak Mahindra Finance was transformed into a commercial bank in 2003.

“In less than three decades, Kotak Mahindra has evolved from a small startup to one of the world’s largest and most respected corporations,” the firm claims.

“A thousand rupee investment in Kotak Mahindra shares in 1985 is worth crores in 2021,” according to industry analysts.

What do these figures mean for the average investor? The main conclusion we can get from this data is that if someone had invested in stocks in 1984, they may have become extremely wealthy. This is when the importance of share recovery becomes clear. According to newly revealed statistics from Kotak Mahindra, it has the largest amount of unclaimed shares or unclaimed dividends among Indian businesses.

What is the source of this unclaimed dividend?

People typically invest their money in a range of firms to reduce the risk of losing money. This looks to be helpful to the public, yet individuals periodically forget about their small donations and do not realise the advantages. The bought shares have remained inactive for years, with no one to claim them. When elderly people buy stock, they may neglect to identify an heir to the shares before dying. Businesses may have unclaimed dividends or shares as a result of this.

IEPF unclaimed dividend: Any person whose unclaimed payment or underpaid money has been transferred by the firm to the IEPF authorities may collect their reimbursements.

Transfer of Physical Share: In case of the death of shareholder, one can opt for the option of transfer of shares on death. When a shareholder dies, his right to his shares passes to whoever inherits them under his will or intestacy. The rights of the dead shareholder will be handled by his or her executors (if a will exists) or administrators of the estate if the shareholder died intestate. Share certificate information is important and always keep it available. Under circumstances, when an investor does not have a certificate they can always go for the Issue of duplicate shares with the means of law and regulations. 

The Status of Kotak Mahindra’s Unclaimed Shares

Kotak Mahindra is one of India’s largest firms, and according to a recent MCA study, it also has the greatest sum in unclaimed dividends. Even as recently as 2015, Kotak Mahindra had almost 60 crores in unclaimed dividends from investors. Its website contains all of the information on unclaimed dividends. It has also encouraged the majority of its investors to claim their dividends and get share recovery or refunds before being obliged to transfer the funds to IEPF. The information of shareholders’ unclaimed dividends may be found at the following link:

https://www.kotak.com/en/investor-relations/investor-information.html

Furthermore to elaborate on what will be the value of Kotak Mahindra shares bought long ago in today’s scenario will be, let’s understand the following data,

• The market capitalization of Kotak Mahindra has multiplied 5000- times from the year 1985 to 2021. 
• The Bank’s PAT for Q4FY21 increased to 1,682 crores from 1,267 crores in Q4FY20, up 33% and for FY21 increased to 6,965 crores from 5,947 crores in FY20 up 17%.

The most profitable investment ever would be just owning a Kotak Mahindra share from the 1980s. As a result, reclaiming Kotak Mahindra shares is a profitable endeavour. When you consider the amount of revenue that will be created in the form of unclaimed dividends, spending a small sum to get the lost shares is not a big deal. To recover all of the lost shares, obviously, legal help would be necessary. Especially if the elderly person dies without claiming the money and their family is seeking it. All of the grandchildren may begin to ask for a share of the inheritance. This is where legal aid may help since they can encourage the elderly to resolve the claim problem among family members. A legal professional can also help you file your claim with the IEPF.

If you wish to access Dematerialisation, often known as Demat, by which one can obtain a Demat of shares through a process. It is the process by which an investor’s physical share certificate is transformed to electronic format and stored in an account with a Depository Participant. You may obtain a Kotak Mahindra share certificate using this method. 

Those who own Kotak Mahindra tangible shares have the option of transferring or liquidating their holdings.

Making a claim through the IEPF

Unclaimed gains were previously transferred to the government, which would use them for public purposes in accordance with government policy. However, the government ultimately opted to create an unclaimed dividend fund into which firms’ lost or unclaimed shares may be placed. Any successors of the funds, or anybody remembering a long-forgotten investment, may file a report with the fund’s management authority to recover their lost money and shares. The Government of India established the IEPF, or Investor Education and Protection Fund, with this goal in mind.

Provisions of the Investor Education and Protection Fund

The regulations for the Investor Education and Protection Fund were published in 2017 by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (IEPF). According to the rules, any money left in the company’s unpaid dividend account for seven years with no claimant during that period must be transferred to the IEPF. The money, along with the interest for the same time period, must be transferred to the fund. A claimant may only claim the transferred money after filing an application with IEPF. As a result, the IEPF has evolved into a one-stop-shop for investors seeking to file a claim for lost shares. It streamlined the process of requesting a refund for lost shares and allowed investors to reclaim their long-lost investment.

In the case of lost shares, you should send the following documents to the company/registrars: affidavit, indemnity & surety bond, original copy of FIR of a complaint filed disclosure loss of share certificates, and voucher copy of advertisement announced in the government gazette publication regarding loss of share certificates.

Now, let’s go through how to get missing shares or unclaimed dividends from Kotak Mahindra shares that were transferred to the IEPF. The method outlined in the following section is a collection of fundamental principles that a common investor can use to request a refund of shares from the IEPF.

The Procedure for Obtaining a Refund of Lost Shares from the IEPF

Any individual whose securities, unclaimed dividend, matured deposits, matured debentures, application money due for refund or interest thereon, proceeds of the sale of fractional shares, redemption proceeds of preferred stock, or other property has been transmitted to the Fund may allege the securities or apply for restitution under the provisions of section 124 sub-section (6).

Step 1: Claim to Authority

• A claimant must submit an IEPF Form-5 to MCA detailing their particulars, firm, and shares to be claimed.
• Particulars of the Applicant Specifics of the Shares to be Claimed
• Company Specifics
• Specifics on the amount claimed
• Aadhaar or PIO Card No. (in the case of NRI/foreigners)/Passport/OCI
• Deposits and securities are broken down by year.
• Details of the Aadhar-linked bank account (in which refund of claim to be made).

Step 2. Claim to Company

After completing the online refund form, the claimant should submit it to the Nodal Officer of the relevant firm, together with attachments such as indemnification bonds, original receipts and certificates linked to matured deposits or debentures, and so on. These will assist the firm in verifying the claim.

The following documents are required:

• Original Physical Share Certificate/bond/Debenture Certificate

•  Indemnity Bond with claimant signature

If the claim is for more than Rs.10,000, a non-judicial Stamp Paper of the value specified by the Stamp Act must be utilised.

If the claim does not exceed Rs.10,000, it can be completed on plain paper. In the case of a share return, the amount specified by the Stamp Act must be stamped on a non-judicial Stamp Paper.

• Advance Stamped Receipt (original) with the claimant’s and two witnesses’ signatures
• A copy of the claimant’s Aadhaar card
• Print off a completed claim form (IEPF-5) with the claimant’s signature.
• Copy of acknowledgement
• Cheque Cancelled
• Passport, OCI, and PIO card copies (for foreigners and NRI)

Step 3.From Corporation to Authority

A business shall create a claim verification report and send it to the authority in the manner prescribed by the authority within 15 days of receiving the claim form and evidence. To carry out the claim verification procedure, the company must choose a nodal person.
If a business does not nominate a Nodal Officer, each director of the company is assumed to be a Nodal Officer and is responsible for any failure to comply with the requirements of these regulations.

Step 4. Claim Grant by Authority

The claim will be awarded to the claimant when the authorities have verified the papers and form supplied by the company.

II. Verification report to the Authority

Within 30 days after receiving the claim form, the business must submit to the Authority a verification report in the manner required by the Authority, along with any documents provided by the claimant. Please keep in mind that sharing certificate information is quite important.

In addition to the e-verification report, the Company shall submit a scanned copy of both sides of the original physical share certificate or original bond, deposit, or debenture certificate/s that have been lawfully cancelled and certified:

If the claimant has claimed shares, the sanctioning authority will order that a refund be sent into the claimant’s Demat account. If money is found, it will be sent to the claimant’s bank account. Typically, the authority settles disputes within 60 days after receiving the verification report from the firm.

Time: The Authority shall consider any application for reimbursement of any claim under this regulation that has been duly validated by the relevant company within 60 days of receipt of the company’s verification report.

Please Do Not Submit an Incomplete Application

If the verifying authority finds that the application is incomplete or that another document is required to complete the verification, an email will be sent to the claimant explaining the flaws in the given form or data, as well as any further required papers. The claimant is then required to produce the refurbished papers or another set of documents within 15 days after getting the notification email from the authorities. If the papers are not submitted on time, the authority may reject the claim application due to their inadequacy. All documentation needed by the verifying authority must be addressed to the verifying nodal officer of the firm. Ensure that the documents are provided to the officer within 15 days.

As a consequence, we understood the whole process of collecting unclaimed money or earnings from a company. Kotak Mahindra stock has soared in value over the last few decades. As a result, if you lay claim to shares that have been lost or unclaimed for a long period, the current value of such shares will be substantially higher. This is analogous to discovering unforeseen treasure buried on your ancestors’ land.

Nevertheless, recovering this lost money and retrieving shares requires the filing of evidence as well as compliance with all of the requirements listed above. Hiring a law firm to handle all of the documentation and filing for you is a straightforward answer to this time-consuming operation. These firms may also guide you through the whole process, making the work of recovering shares easier. So, without further ado, if you have any concerns or questions concerning the recovery of shares/transfers, choose a reputable legal firm with specialists and seek aid in reclaiming your unclaimed investment.