Recovery of Unclaimed Dividends from IEPF of AXIS Bank
Shares of AXIS Bank LTD. are floating at a price of more than Rs. 700 per share in the market as of Feb 2021. The bank is one of India’s largest private sector banks. With business growing continuously, AXIS bank has taken giant strides in growth over the past two decades. Now, since the inception of IEPF, the bank has started depositing a huge chunk of money to it as it has a lot of dormant shares.
To those who do have really old shares (count 25 years) of AXIS bank, you have a permanent reason to smile as these shares have now increased to unfathomable values. In simple words..finding old shares of AXIS and raising a claim for them from IEPF can make you rich instantly. To get answers to all your queries like what is IEPF and how old dormant shares of AXIS are going to make you rich in a short span, stay with us till the end of this piece. The huge no. of shares and dividends transferred by AXIS bank to the IEPF might make some people look through their investment history to find if they have any unclaimed shares left of AXIS or not.
How AXIS Bank Limited Has Grown?
AXIS Bank Limited may be a depository financial institution. The Bank is engaged in providing a variety of banking and financial services, including commercial banking, retail banking, project and company finance, capital finance, insurance, risk capital, and personal equity, investment banking, broking, and treasury products and services. The Bank’s business segments are Retail banking, Wholesale Banking, Treasury, Other banking, life assurance, General insurance et al. . it’s a network of roughly 18,210 branches and automatic teller machines (ATMs). The Bank has approximately 110 Touch Banking branches across over 30 cities. Its international banking is concentrated on providing solutions for the international banking requirements of its Indian corporate clients and leveraging economic corridors between India and therefore the remainder of the planet. The Bank caters to the financial needs of girls entrepreneurs through its Self-Help Group (SHG) program as a neighborhood of its microfinance initiatives.
AXIS Bank is one of India’s finest and leading private-sector financial institutions and was among the firsts to receive approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to line up a personal sector bank in 1994. The AXIS Bank features a banking network of over 5,480 branches and 14,530+ ATMs spread across 2,800+ cities in the country. AXIS Bank Limited is listed as a private company and has maintained a steady growth rate in the past two decades. It offers various banking and financial services that span commercial and investment banking on the wholesale side and transactional/branch banking on the retail side. It also offers financial services in the segments including Treasury, Wholesale banking, Retail banking, and Other banking related business. Its Treasury segment primarily comprises net interest earnings from the Bank’s diversified investment portfolio, market lending and borrowings, profits or losses associated with its investment operations, and trading in exchange and derivative contracts. The bank’s Retail Banking segment serves retail customers through its vast network of operational branches across the country and other alternative delivery channels. The bank has brought many modern banking practices into play and boasts an impressive lineup of financial products.
Over its years of operations, the share of the AXIS bank limited has shown tremendous growth leading to the company splitting its stocks twice in the last decade. In this blog, we will understand how the values of a small investment in AXIS could be worth millions as per today’s rates and what is the ideal way for the investor to recover such an amount.
Calculation
- Suppose an investor bought 600 shares of AXIS Bank Ltd. registered under his name in November 1995 at Rs. 4.98.
Now the overall value of the investment is 600 shares x Rs. 4.98 = Rs. 2988.
- Now, the prices of AXIS shares have kept on increasing since 1995 and the company had to announce a stock split on two separate occasions to let the small retail investor gain access to the company’s shares.
| Announcement Date | Old Face Value | New Face Value | Record Date | Ex-Split Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18/04/2011 | 10 | 2 | 16/07/2011 | 14/07/2011 |
| 22/05/2019 | 2 | 1 | 20/09/2019 | 19/09/2019 |
- Due to the first stock split in 2011, which was in the ratio 5:1 made the total no. of shares equal to 3000. Each share had an equal value which is 1/5 of the total value of a single stock. This meant that the net value of ownership remained constant and only the no. of shares increased leading to a corresponding decrease in the price of shares in proportion.
- The Bank again split its stock in a ratio of 2:1 to bring the no. of shares to 6000.
- Now the total price of investment as per the rate of February 2021 becomes:
6000 shares x Rs. 734.40 = Rs. 44, 06, 400 (Forty-Four Lakhs Six Thousand and Four Hundred).
Bonus History:
| Announcement Date | Bonus Ratio | Record Date | Ex-Bonus Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03/05/2017 | 1 : 10 | 20/06/2017 |
Stock Split:
| Announcement Date | Old FV | New FV | Record Date | Ex-Split Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/09/2014 | 10 | 2 | 05/12/2014 | 04/12/2014 |
The above amount is an increase of approximately 514899% which is a humongous increase in just over 25 years. This is enough to show the investors why is it a good idea to go for the recovery of shares of AXIS bank limited?
As you can see, from the above calculations that the AXIS bank shares from two or three decades ago could fetch a huge amount to their investors. The bank has also provided its investors huge dividends and thus, has been a preferred stock for many investors. If we add the returns made through dividends to the amount calculated in the previous section then the corresponding return on the investment will easily cross the mark of one crore rupees. These huge figures should be enough to indicate that old shares of AXIS are nothing but a hidden treasure. In the next sections, we have given the data of dividends released by the company in the last two decades from where investors could easily calculate the net dividends offered by the company. We will also understand about IEPF and how to claim old shares of AXIS from it.
Dividend History of AXIS Bank LTD.
The following table will give a detailed account of dividends released by AXIS since 1997. One can simply study the table and do a detailed analysis of how much dividend any investment after 1997 would have generated.
| Announcement Date | Effective Date | Dividend Type | Dividend (%) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06/05/2019 | 22/07/2019 | Final | 50% | Rs.1.0000 per share (50%) Final Dividend |
| 07/05/2018 | 24/08/2018 | Final | 75% | Rs.1.5000 per share (75%) Dividend. (Revised) |
| 04/05/2017 | 20/06/2017 | Final | 125% | Rs.2.5000 per share (125%) Dividend |
| 29/04/2016 | 16/06/2016 | Final | 250% | Rs.5.0000 per share (250%) Dividend |
| 27/04/2015 | 04/06/2015 | Final | 250% | Rs.5.0000 per share (250%) Dividend |
| 25/04/2014 | 05/06/2014 | Final | 230% | Rs.23.0000 per share (230%) Dividend |
| 26/04/2013 | 30/05/2013 | Final | 200% | Rs.20.0000 per share (200%) Dividend |
| 27/04/2012 | 31/05/2012 | Final | 165% | |
| 28/04/2011 | 02/06/2011 | Final | 140% | |
| 26/04/2010 | 10/06/2010 | Final | 120% | |
| 27/04/2009 | 11/06/2009 | Final | 110% | |
| 28/04/2008 | 10/07/2008 | Final | 110% | AGM |
| 30/04/2007 | 14/06/2007 | Final | 100% | AGM |
| 29/04/2006 | 06/07/2006 | Final | 85% | AGM |
| 02/05/2005 | 04/08/2005 | Final | 85% | AGM |
| 30/04/2004 | 02/09/2004 | Final | 75% | |
| 25/04/2003 | 04/08/2003 | Final | 75% | AGM |
| 03/05/2002 | 03/09/2002 | Final | 0% | AGM & Nil Final Dividend |
| 22/01/2002 | 21/02/2002 | Interim | 20% | |
| 24/04/2001 | 08/05/2001 | Final | 20% | |
| 25/04/2000 | Interim | 15% | ||
| 22/04/1999 | Final | 12% | AGM & Dividend | |
| 22/04/1998 | Final | 10% |
As per the annual report of the AXIS bank in 2018-19 the bank has transferred a whopping 414423 shares to the IEPF fund operating under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as per the provisions of IEPF Rules 2016. As per the report, the shares were transferred to the IEPF bearing Demat account no 12047200 13676780 opened with Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL) with a Depository Participant in SBI CAP Securities Ltd. as per the said provisions of the IEPF Authority rules all the benefits and returns gained for the shares will be transferred to the IEPF. The report also stated that the IEPF has transferred a total of 4685 shares for claims associated with old AXIS shares by 31 march 2019.
Under the IEPF rules, the company is obliged to release the details of shareholders whose shares have been transferred to the authority under the rules. The company releases the dates of transfer for the dividends and also the last date to claim them before they get deposited into the IEPF fund. One can the following table to get the details for the subsequent financial years and the last date to claim funds before they get transferred to IEPF.
Dates for Unclaimed Dividend Transfer to IEPF
| Dividend for the year ended | Date of Declaration of dividend | Last date for claiming dividend |
|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2012 | July 13, 2012 | July 12, 2019 |
| March 31, 2013 | June 27, 2013 | June 26, 2020 |
| March 31, 2014 | June 25, 2014 | June 24, 2021 |
| March 31, 2015 | July 21, 2015 | July 20, 2022 |
| March 31, 2016 | July 21, 2016 | July 20, 2023 |
| March 31, 2017 | July 24, 2017 | July 23, 2024 |
| March 31, 2018 | June 29, 2018 | June 28, 2025 |
Unclaimed dividends declared by the AXIS banks for the fiscal year 2013 were transferred to the IEPF account on June 26, 2020. Similarly, for the financial year 2014, the associated dividends will be transferred this year on June 24. If the shareholders want to claim their money before the deadline ends then they must reach the nodal officer or transfer agent of the bank to claim the amount from their special account made for unclaimed dividends. The shareholders can reach the nodal officer with the requisite set of documents to prove the ownership of shares and the dividends. Here are the details of the Nodal officer of the company.
Mr. Dhanjit Thaivalappil (Nodal Officer)
Tel: +91-022-3976 0012 / 0003 / 0016
Email: [email protected]
An investor can check the status of their unclaimed dividend of AXIS bank LTD. and associated returns on the following link:
Investor Education and Protection Fund – An Overview
The Government of India has set a target of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy before 2024 and for achieving this target it has continued to come up with reforms in the financial and other economic sectors. Be it the IBC 2016 or banking reforms the government has been taking steps in the direction to make the Indian financial sector more formal and organized. The introduction of the IEPF or Investor Education and Protection Fund in 2016 was also one such major reformist step. From the earlier time of Independence, the Indian stock market had no regulations or a statutory body that could oversee the issue of unclaimed dividends.
In 2016, the Govt. founded the IEPF authority and came up with the regulations associated with it. The regulations were read with the Companies act 2013 and thus made it mandatory for every listed company to follow them. Here are basic changes suggested by the IEPF rules and the subsequent amendments related to the transfer of unclaimed dividends to the IEPF account.
- An investor must claim his/her dividends from the company within 30 days of its declaration.
- The companies were asked to create a separate unclaimed dividend account where the dividends need to be transferred in case they have not been claimed by the investors within 30 days.
- If the investor wants to claim the amount from the special account after 30 days then he/she must reach the company’s transfer officer or nodal officer with the prescribed set of documents to raise the claim.
- The company should inform the shareholders that their dividends have been transferred to the unclaimed dividend accounts and they must claim it before it gets transferred to the IEPF.
- The company will be obliged to publish the list of investors whose dividends have been transferred to the unclaimed dividend account.
- The company should communicate the information regarding dividend transfers individually to the shareholders via email and letters.
- If the investor fails to claim the dividends from the company’s unclaimed dividend account for 7 years after the transfer then the dividends must be transferred to IEPF.
- The company should release the list of shareholders every year whose shares have been transferred to the IEPF.
- After seven years, the shareholder must make the application to IEPF to get the dividends.
With these rules, MCA aimed to streamline the process of claiming the dividends which are dormant. The whole process became more regularised and transparent. The process to claim dividends from IEPF is also fairly organized and goes through a lot of scrutinies to ensure that the dividends go into the right hands and are free of any fraudulent claim.
Process to Claim Dividends of AXIS Bank from IEPF
The process to claim dividends from IEPF might sound a bit complex as there are a lot of documents and know-how involved. Here we have tried to explain the process in simple steps so that even a layman can understand the basics of the IEPF claim process. Here are the basic steps to claim dividends from IEPF.
- The shareholder is advised to get in contact with the company’s nodal officer and get all the details regarding his owned shares and the related claim process. The nodal office will also give the investor the list of documents that need to be submitted with the claim form.
- The shareholder then needs to visit the website of IEPF and file the IEPF claim form on it by submitting his personal details and details regarding his/her ownership of shares.
- After filing the form, the claimant must take a printout of the form and compile all the copies of necessary documents as prescribed by the IEPF website and Nodal officer.
- After compilation, the claimant must send the file to the Nodal officer who will check the form and documents to investigate the ownership of the claimant on the shares and verify the details as per the documents submitted.
- The nodal officer will create a claim verification report based on the claim file and send it within 15 days of receiving it to the IEPF Authority’s regional fund manager.
- The fund manager after receiving the file will scrutinize the claim verification report along with the application form and the copies of other documents.
- After thorough verification, the fund manager may take any of the following three actions.
- He can ask for some additional documents from the claimant which should be sent by him/her through the nodal officer.
- He may reject the application due to some error in the application or missing documents that were not furnished on time.
- He can sanction the claimed amount after successful scrutinization of the claim file.
Necessity of Legal Help to Claim AXIS’s Old Shares
You might have noticed in the previous sections that thorough scrutiny of the claim form is conducted by Nodal officers as well as the IEPF authority. This is done to ensure that there is zero chance of any fraudulent claim. The ownership documents of shares are thoroughly scrutinized and background checked. Also, the application form is verified thoroughly and even small errors need to be rectified in time or failure to do so could lead to cancellation of a claim.
All these reasons lead to making the claim process a bit time-consuming and tedious for a common investor. To save yourself from the hassle of filing and getting the claim approved by the authority, a shareholder must hire a reputed legal consultancy firm. These firms specialize in the filing of IEPF forms and thus chances of any error in your application will be reduced to none. Also, most of these firms offer end-to-end support and liaising with the nodal officer and IEPF authority in case of any missing documents or other issues with the application. This saves a lot of hassle for the investor. The final and most important help comes in form of getting ownership approval in case the shares are inherited from an elder relative who forgot to name an heir to the shares. The legal firms help the client in proving ownership and legitimate right over the shares so that the claim process is easy.
To conclude…
All the above reasons prove that recovery of AXIS shares is indeed a profitable option for the investors and they must look into the investment portfolio of their Fathers and Grand-Fathers to look for any dormant shares of AXIS Bank LTD. The investors can simply hire a legal consultancy firm and hand over the job of claiming money/ dividends from IEPF on behalf of the claimant. This will not only make the job easier but also decrease the turnaround time for the overall claim process.
All of this might as well take a while if you try to complete all the processes on your own. Also with the rising scrutiny when it comes to shares owned by the heirs has made it a bit difficult to claim ownership for the kin of the investors. Therefore, always have a knowledgeable attorney by your side while filing the claims for such investments to stay away from any such issue.