Recovery of Unclaimed Apollo Hospitals’ Shares from the IEPF can Make You Millionaire Overnight!
Do you think 1000 shares of a company can give you more than Rs. 30 Lakhs? Yes, you read it right! Apollo Hospitals has done the impossible. If your grandpa or any elderly had bought 1000 shares of Apollo Hospitals during 1995, then today, the value of those shares would be more than Rs. 30 lakhs.
Curious? In this blog, we are going to discuss how you could have earned a fortune if you had just come to know that you owned 1000 shares of Apollo Hospitals in 1995.
About the Company Activity
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise is a corporate house specializing in the healthcare service providers domain. It is a limited firm that runs chains of high-end private hospitals providing world-class health care in multiple domains. The company is also engaged in offering standalone pharmacies. The Various segments company is involved in Pharmacy, Healthcare, and other services related to healthcare. Their healthcare segment consists of hospital chains, hospital-based localized pharmacies, and healthcare projects with consultancy services. The tertiary care hospitals of the company provide care in over 50 specialties that include major healthcare segments like cardiac sciences, neurosciences, oncology, critical care, radiology, orthopedics, gastroenterology, and organ transplant. The tertiary care hospital chain has overall 9,550 beds in approximately 70 locations spread across the country, approximately 170 primary care, over 2,330 pharmacies, and diagnostic clinics. It also has over 150 telemedicine units in 10 countries. Other services offered by the company include project consultancy services, education and training programs, health insurance services, and related research services. It also operates day surgery centers, birthing centers, and dental clinics.
Calculation of Share Prices
- Imagine that you or any family member in your previous generation has bought 1000 Apollo Hospital shares in 1995.
- In June 1995, the shares were issued at Rs. 14. Thus, you would have invested a total of Rs. 14 x 1000 = 14000 Rs. in these shares.
- Apollo company since the year 1995, has issued dividends to its valued investors 26 times. the issued dividends have increased the cumulative earnings for its investors by manifolds.
- Now, the price of 1 share of Apollo Hospitals, as of June 1995 was Rs. 14.43. Thus, the value of your shares at that time was,
Rs. 14.43 x 1000 shares = Rs. 14430 (Fourteen thousand four hundred thirty)
- The above amount is only the price of shares at that time. We have not calculated the surge in values and associated dividends that you could have received so far.
- As of 2021, the Apollo Group’s shares have surged to Rs. 3002.1
- So the price associated with the surge price of shares alone becomes 3002.1 x 1000= Rs. 3002100 (Thirty lakh two thousand one hundred).
- Now if we add the dividends for the said shares in the past 25 years, the amount will surely go up to almost a crore rupees. What were just a thousand penny shares a year ago are now worth almost a crore rupees? This is why recovery of unclaimed dividends and shares of Apollo group is such a great idea.
As you could see, if you had 1000 shares of Apollo Hospitals registered under the name in 1995, then it would have you a Crorepati by today. Now the issue is that once such a long time has passed without claiming dividends on the shares of the investor loses the right to claim the dividends directly from the company. As per the Government’s rule introduced in 2016, these unclaimed shares are treated as forgotten or lost shares once they go unclaimed for 7 consecutive years. After the 7 years are passed, these shares are transferred to a fund created by the government to keep the dormant share money safe under it until the time a rightful claimant arrives for them. . The Government of India has made it mandatory for corporates and listed companies to transfer all their unclaimed dividend lying dormant for 7+ years to the (IEPF) Investor Education and Protection Fund. This fund was introduced in 2016 by the GOI to resolve the issues related to claims of forgotten shares.
Governance Norms for IEPF
The functioning of IEPF is governed by the Companies Act, 2013 and read with the IEPF Rules, 2016. Once a corporation declares a dividend on the shares, the shareholders get 30 days to say the said dividend. After 30 days, if the dividends remain unclaimed by the shareholders, then the corporate, consistent with the above-stated laws, is obliged to transfer such dividends to a special account. This special account is opened within the name of the corporate, referred to as ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’.
After that, the corporate gets 90 days to publish an inventory of all the shareholders alongside their unclaimed dividends on its website. Additionally, the corporate can use the other mode of communication to inform its members about their unclaimed dividends kept with the corporate. If a shareholder wants to retrieve his unclaimed dividend from the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’, then he has got to file an application to the agency of the corporate. Despite these, if a shareholder, for any reason stated above, fails to say the quantity from the corporate for 7 years, then the corporate shall transfer such unclaimed dividend to the IEPF Account. The shares on which such dividend was declared also will get transferred to the IEPF for they’re considered as forgotten shares.
Understanding Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)
As stated above, the government introduced the IEPF to deal with the ever-increasing problem of individuals forgetting their stockholdings within a company. The IEPF was launched to market the protection of interest, and awareness of the investors. The unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to the present account are taken care of by the government on behalf of the rightful stakeholders. The shares/dividend remain unclaimed because people tend to forget about their stockholdings of the shares. There are multiple reasons why people ditch their ownership within a company.
- The company was small and the investor thought that it won’t make it big and stopped taking cognizance of the investment after a certain period.
- Generally, the investment is of small amounts which lead to an investor forgetting about the shares.
- Shares get attached to the court case laws whose proceedings are pending within the courts regarding any dispute. And so, the shares remain ownerless till the court’s verdict.
- Usually, investors don’t appoint an heir to take over ownership of the shares after their death. Therefore, the shares remain deserted because the potential heirs are clueless about their ownership of such shares.
There could be many other reasons why an investor forgets about his/ her shareholding during a company. This is probably the rationale why many companies have an abundance of dormant shares with them with no sign of ownership.
Before the IEPF was introduced, the companies were required to transfer unclaimed dividends or unclaimed shares to the govt funds for public schemes. Govt could then use such funds for various public welfare schemes and various developmental works. Since the matter of individuals forgetting their shareholdings during a company was increasing, the Govt. realized that it had been causing huge losses for the investors. Therefore, the Govt. decided to line up the IEPF. it’s a one-stop solution that the govt provides to the members/investors of a corporation. Here, the aggrieved investors can approach the authority and claim their dividends. Besides, they will also allow them to get a refund of their long-forgotten shares. The IEPF was started to protect the interests of the investors/shareholders. IEPF protected the investors’ funds while spreading awareness regarding an equivalent.
The Government takes care of the unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to the present account on behalf of the rightful shareholders. So, even if 7 years are over, stockholders can still claim their dividends and shares from the fund manager by applying to the managing authority. People can claim their dividends and shares of various companies through one platform rather than getting to each company individually, that’s why IEPF is understood as a one-stop solution.
Unclaimed Dividend & Unclaimed Shares of Apollo Hospitals
We can see the status of the dividend offered by Apollo groups to their investors. Through the following charts released by different sources based on the data released by the company.
| Ex-Dividend Date | Dividend | EPS Payout Ratio | Type | Payment Date | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2020 | 6 | -40% | TTM | Oct 05, 2020 | 0.20% |
| Feb 25, 2020 | 6.25 | 94% | TTM | Mar 05, 2020 | 0.43% |
| Sep 12, 2019 | 6 | 105% | TTM | Oct 05, 2019 | 0.34% |
| Sep 12, 2018 | 5 | 116% | TTM | Oct 11, 2018 | 0.36% |
| Sep 07, 2017 | 6 | 240% | TTM | Oct 04, 2017 | 0.58% |
| Mar 22, 2016 | 6 | TTM | Mar 31, 2016 | 0.44% | |
| Jul 30, 2015 | 5.75 | TTM | Aug 25, 2015 | 0.41% |
Source: https://in.investing.com/equities/apollo-hospitals-historical-data-dividends
An investor can also analyze the following data released by Economic times to calculate the overall dividends on their shares from 1998 to 2020.
| Announcement Date | Effective Date | Dividend Type | Dividend(%) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25/06/2020 | 17/09/2020 | Final | 55% | Rs.2.7500 per share(55%) Final Dividend |
| 13/02/2020 | 25/02/2020 | Interim | 65% | Rs.3.2500 per share (65%) Interim Dividend |
| 30/05/2019 | 12/09/2019 | Final | 120% | Rs.6.0000 per share (120%)Dividend |
| 30/05/2018 | 12/09/2018 | Final | 100% | Rs.5.0000 per share (105%) Dividend |
| 30/05/2017 | 07/09/2017 | Final | 120% | Rs.6.0000 per share (120%) Dividend. |
| 04/03/2016 | 22/03/2016 | Interim | 120% | Rs.6.0000 per share (120%) Interim Dividend. |
| 28/05/2015 | 30/07/2015 | Final | 115% | Rs.5.7500 per share (115%) Dividend |
| 28/05/2014 | 13/08/2014 | Final | 115% | Rs.5.7500 per share (115%) Dividend |
| 20/05/2013 | 25/07/2013 | Final | 110% | Rs.5.5000 per share (110%) Dividend |
| 29/05/2012 | 26/07/2012 | Final | 80% | – |
| 24/05/2011 | 07/07/2011 | Final | 75% | – |
| 31/05/2010 | 15/07/2010 | Final | 70% | – |
| 29/06/2009 | 20/08/2009 | Final | 65% | – |
| 24/06/2008 | 11/08/2008 | Final | 60% | AGM |
| 26/06/2007 | 09/08/2007 | Final | 20% | AGM |
| 12/03/2007 | 22/03/2007 | Interim | 30% | – |
| 12/06/2006 | 27/07/2006 | Final | 45% | AGM |
| 23/05/2005 | 29/07/2005 | Final | 40% | AGM |
| 25/06/2004 | 30/08/2004 | Final | 35% | AGM |
| 25/06/2003 | 11/08/2003 | Final | 30% | AGM |
| 17/06/2002 | 02/09/2002 | Final | 25% | – |
| 12/06/2001 | 17/08/2001 | Final | 25% | AGM |
| 03/07/2000 | 22/08/2000 | Final | 5% | – |
| 02/03/2000 | – | Interim | 20% | – |
| 20/08/1999 | – | Final | 25% | AGM & Dividend |
| 25/06/1998 | – | Final | 25% | – |
Apollo Funds & Shares transferred to the IEPF
Apollo Hospitals Ltd. has released the data for the funds it has transferred to IEPF over the years of its operations. Since the inception of IRPF, Apollo has constantly transferred dormant dividends and unclaimed money to the fund, and it has released the names of the shareholders with other details on its website. Investors can easily check their names on the lists and also on the company’s portal to understand whether they have any dormant money related to Apollo or not.
To check their status and their names, investors can visit the following links:
- Link to raise a claim on dormant money: iepf.gov.in/IEPFA/refund.html
- List of investors whose shares are liable to be transferred to IEPF in 2020: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/List-of-shareholders-whose-shares-are-liable-to-be-transferred-to-IEPF-Fund-in-the-year-2020.pdf
- List of investors whose shares are liable to be transferred to IEPF Fund: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/list-of-the-shareholders-liable-to-be-transferred-to-IEPF.pdf
- Shares Due for transfer to IEPF: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/Shares%20due%20to%20be%20transferred%20to%20IEPF.xls
List of unpaid dividends transferred to IEPF for last 7 fiscal years:
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 18-19: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-18-19.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 17-18: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-17-18.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 16-17: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-16-17.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 15-16: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-15-16.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 14-15: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-14-15.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 13-14: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-13-14.pdf
- Unpaid Dividends transferred for the year 12-13: https://delhi.apollohospitals.com/downloads/unpaid-dividend/List-of-unpaid-Dividend-for-the-year-12-13.pdf
Along with it, Apollo Hospitals in 2019 alone, has transferred 21,625 shares in the IEPF which have the face value of Rs. 5 each. This is the data for only one fiscal year. The IEPF holds a lot of Apollo shares whose value could go up to crores of rupees. It is a huge chunk of unclaimed money. The shareholders are thus recommended that they check their investment history and if they find some shares of Apollo then they must apply with IEPF to claim dividends for the same.
Deadline Related to Funds & Shares transferred to the IEPF
The Annual Report 2019-2020 also provides the dates by which funds for the respective year would be transferred to the IEPF. The company will transfer the funds in the coming years on the dates mentioned in the list below. Investors are requested to follow the dates and try claiming their amount from the company before these dates. If they fail to do so, the amount will be transferred to the IEPF and then the claim will be made to IEPF only. This process to claim funds will take a little longer time than claiming funds from the company directly.
The following table provides the information regarding dormant amount transfer dates for the respective years by Apollo Hospitals Limited.
For shareholders of Apollo Hospitals:
| Financial Year Ended | Due date for transferring Unclaimed | Due date for transferring Unclaimed |
|---|---|---|
| 31-03-2013 | 07-08-2013 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2014 | 25-08-2014 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2015 | 11-08-2015 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2016 | 15-03-2016 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2017 | 20-09-2017 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2018 | 27-09-2018 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2019 | 29-09-2019 | 07-08-2013 |
| 31-03-2020 (interim) | 13-02-2020 | 07-08-2013 |
Source: https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/announcements/bse/01092020/93b66bbf-a706-4a94-9422-0f52c2d635de.pdf
The table above provides the deadlines to the Apollo Hospital to transfer unclaimed dividends of the respective year to the IEPF authorities. Investors can also refer to these tables to check whether their dividends have been transferred to the IEPF or not.
Unclaimed Shares & Lost Dividend under IEPF from Apollo
The shareholder doesn’t lose his/ her right over the dividend and therefore the shares are still under their name. the only thing that changes is the overseeing authority of shares is transferred to IEPF if the shares are unclaimed for 7 or more years. Despite this, Apollo Hospitals Ltd. still encourages its members to claim dividends on time from the corporate itself, to avoid its transfer to the IEPF Account. Apollo Hospitals does this to avoid its members to travel through the tiresome procedure of recovering the cash and shares from the IEPF Authority. The fund manager follows this rigorous procedure to make sure that the shares get transferred to the rightful owner only. When shares remain unclaimed for such long periods, i.e., seven years or more, they become susceptible to fraudulent transactions/activities. Therefore, the fund manager of IEPF makes thorough investigations before initiating the transfer of the quantity and therefore the shares. This thorough investigation makes it a time-consuming procedure and it becomes hard for the members to get their shares back. Hence, Apollo Hospitals advises its members to take dividends from the company its self as it is easier.
For this job, the Nodal Officer, appointed by the Apollo Management according to the rules of IEPF Authority, is Mr. Priya Ranjan, AVP – Corporate Affairs & Legal Officer (Indraprastha Medical Corporation Limited which is the parent company of the group). To contact the Nodal/ Deputy Nodal Officer of Apollo Hospitals, write an email to [email protected] or call at +91 11 – 26925858 / 26925801.
Why does one Need Legal Help?
Hiring a lawyer is going to be extremely helpful if your shares are stuck within a family dispute. As mentioned, sometimes, the shareholder dies with no nominee, and he also forgets to place ownership of shares in his will. In such a case, all the relatives of the deceased could come to lay their right to the deceased’s financial belongings, i.e., Apollo Hospitals Shares. Not hiring a lawyer, in this case, can cost you a fortune that you are simply are entitled to. If you’re without a lawyer, then the opposite party will easily take your advantage and you’ll find yourself with nothing. Why will people leave shares worth crores? A lawyer with command over the aspects of the law can protect you from all the loopholes which could go against you and thus, can provide you with the simplest deal possible.
The claim procedure for refund of unclaimed dividends and lost shares may be a difficult process. It requires a particular degree of financial and legal experience to file the IEPF claim form to the fund manager. Hiring a legal professional can assist you in saving lots of hassles related to this tedious task. Your legal help takes over all the work and formalities related to the filing of refund form. If there are mistakes in the IEPF claim form, the IEPF authority will immediately reject it, and therefore the claimant has got to repeat the entire procedure. Hiring a lawyer will make sure that there are not any mistakes in your form and it is in order to ensure that the procedure goes on smoothly. From contacting the nodal officer to collecting the information related to filing the IEPF application form, the lawyer will handle everything.
As we’ve seen, Apollo Hospitals is extremely active in issuing dividends for its shares to its investors from time to time. Maybe this activity is the reason for their record growth over the last two decades. Its share price has increased from Rs. 14 to Rs. 3000 in lat two and a half decades. Therefore, if you only came to understand the existence of Apollo Hospitals’ shares in your name, then it’s the simplest time to face your profits. it’s advised that you simply check the tables provided above and find the expiry date by which you’ll claim the dividend from Apollo Hospitals. If your dividend amount and shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then find a consultant as soon as possible. He also will also come in handy in case you would like to fight for the shares stuck within a legal dispute.