Do you think 1 share of a company can give you more than ₹ 10 Lakhs? Yes, you read it right! Infosys has done the impossible. If your father or grandpa had bought 10 shares of Infosys during its IPO, then today, the value of those shares would be more than ₹ 1 Crore.

Curious to know about it? Here, I am going to discuss how you could earn a fortune if you just came to know that you owned 10 shares of Infosys in 1993.

About the Company

Infosys is an Indian MNC that provides the services of business consultation, information technology, and outsourcing. It was incorporated in 1981 as a private company. In 1992, it converted into a public company. The very next year, it got listed on the stock exchanges. It is the 2^nd largest Indian IT company after TCS with a market capitalization of ₹2,73,214 Crores. It has been growing exponentially.

It continued to generate profits during the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided dividends to its members. Infosys has provided 2 dividends, in 2020-2021, of ₹12 and ₹ 9.50, accumulating to ₹ 21.5 per share. This means that if you would have purchased 10 shares in 1993, then you could have received a dividend of ₹ 2, 20, 160 in this year alone. You must be wondering how 10 shares could yield the said amount with the dividend of only ₹ 21.5 per share. All thanks to the bonus shares, Infosys has issued from time to time. Below is the calculation that will provide you an explanation.

Calculation

• Imagine that you or any family member in your previous generation has bought 10 Infosys shares during its IPO in 1993.
• The share was issued at ₹ 95. Thus, you invested a total of ₹ 950 in these shares.
• The company, in 1994, issued its first bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.

[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 1:1 ratio means, that for every share owned by a shareholder, the company will issue another share in his name. This means that if you had 10 shares in the beginning, it has now become 20 shares.

• In 1997, the company again issued the bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1. Therefore, the 20 shares in your name have now become 40 shares.
• In 1999, the company again issued bonus shares at a 1:1 ratio. Now, your number of shares has increased from 40 to 80.
• The company, in the very next year, in 2000, due to an extreme rise in its share price, split up its stock in the ratio of 2:1.

[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 Infosys. Its stock price shot up to a great height. To reduce the share price, and to make it easier for the retail investors to buy the stock, the company split its stock into 2. This means that for every share, the shareholder got 2 shares, worth half of the original 1 share. In simpler words, earlier, if you had 10 shares of ₹ 100 each, then now you have 20 shares of ₹ 50 each. Thus, no change in the net value of the shares worth ₹ 1, 000.

Due to the stock split, now your shares increased from 80 to 160.

P.S.: Do not confuse it with Bonus Shares. Because unlike Stock Spilt, the price per share does not decrease while issuing Bonus Shares.

• After that, the company has issued bonus shares 5 times to date.
• In 2005, the company issued bonus shares at a 3:1 ratio. This means that for every share owned by a shareholder, the company will issue another 3 shares in his name. This means that if you had 160 shares in the beginning, it has now become 640 shares. (160 Original Shares + 480 Bonus Shares)
• In 2007, the company issued another round of bonus shares at the ratio of 1:1. Now your shares are doubled in the amount. Thus, it has increased to 1, 280 shares.
• After the 8 years, in 2015, the company again issued the bonus shares at the ratio of 1:1. The shareholding of every shareholder got doubled, thus, the shares increased from 1, 280 to 2, 560.
• The very next year, in 2016, the company again issued bonus shares at a 1:1 ratio. Now, your number of shares has increased to 5, 120.
• Infosys last issued the bonus shares in 2019 at the ratio of 1:1. Thus, today, the number of Infosys shares you should own is 10, 240.
• Now, the price of 1 share of Infosys, as of 3^rd December 2020, is ₹ 1, 125. Thus, the value of your shares as of date is,

₹ 1, 125 x 10, 240 shares = ₹ 1, 15, 20, 000 (One Crore Fifteen Lakhs Twenty Thousand)

• The above amount is only the price of the shares. We have not calculated the dividends that you have received so far.
• Infosys is known for sharing its profits with its investors. To date, the company has paid an aggregate dividend of ₹ 722.25 per share.

Source: https://trendlyne.com/equity/Dividend/INFY/630/infosys-ltd-dividend/

Now you can calculate your dividends accordingly.

As you could see, if you had 10 shares of Infosys registered under your name in 1993, then you would have become a Crorepati today. Now the issue is that you are not in the possession of the shares of Infosys 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 or lost shares because no one has claimed dividends on them for 7 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, the Government introduced the IEPF to address the ever-increasing problem of people forgetting their shareholdings in a company. The IEPF was launched to promote the protection of interest, and awareness of the investors. The unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to this account are taken care of by the Government on behalf of the rightful shareholders. The dividends on the shares remain unclaimed for years because people tend to forget that they own the shares in the first place. There are multiple reasons why people forget about their ownership in a company:

• No Nominee: Usually investors do not appoint a nominee/ heir to take care of the shares after their death. Therefore, the shares remain deserted because the heirs are clueless about their ownership of such shares.
• Small Investments: Generally, the investment is of small amounts due to which an investor forgets about the shares.
• Property Dispute: Shares get attached to the court because proceedings are pending in the courts regarding the property dispute. Thus, the shares remain ownerless till the court’s verdict.

There are many other reasons why an investor forgets about his/ her shareholding in a company. This is the reason why many companies have abundant shares with them with no sign of ownership.

Before the introduction of the IEPF, the companies were required to transfer the unclaimed dividends and unclaimed shares to the government funds. The Government could then use such funds for various public welfare schemes and various developmental works.  Since the problem of people forgetting their shareholdings in a company was increasing, the Government realized that it was causing huge losses for the investors. Therefore, the Government decided to set up the IEPF.  It is a one-stop solution that the government provides to the members of a company. Here, the members can approach the government and claim their dividends. Along with that, they can ask them to refund their long-forgotten shares. The IEPF was initiated while keeping in mind the interests of the shareholders. IEPF protected the investors’ funds while spreading awareness regarding the same.

The Government takes care of the unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to this account on behalf of the rightful shareholders. Thus, even after 7 years, investors can claim their dividends and shares from the fund manager by applying to the managing authority. People can claim their dividends and shares of different companies through one platform instead of going to each company individually, that is why IEPF is known as a one-stop solution.

Provisions Governing IEPF

The functioning of IEPF is governed by the Companies Act, 2013 read with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016. Once a company declares a dividend on the shares, the shareholders get 30 days to claim the said dividend. After 30 days, if the dividends remain unclaimed by the shareholders, then the company, according to the above-stated laws, is obliged to transfer such dividends to a special account. This special account is opened in the name of the company, known as ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’.

After that, the company gets 90 days to publish a list of all the shareholders along with their unclaimed dividends on its website. In addition to this, the company can use any other mode of communication to tell its members about their unclaimed dividends kept with the company. If a shareholder wants to retrieve his unclaimed dividend from the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’, then he has to file an application to the transfer agent of the company. Despite all these, if a shareholder, for any reason stated above, fails to claim the amount from the company for 7 years, then the company shall transfer such unclaimed dividend to the IEPF Account. The shares on which such dividend was declared will also get transferred to the IEPF for they are considered as forgotten shares. Thus, if the dividends remain unclaimed for 7 years, then the dividend and shares, both get transferred to the IEPF Account.

Unclaimed Dividend & Unclaimed Shares of Infosys

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, Infosys has transferred the following unpaid dividend and unclaimed shares to the IEPF during the last 3 Fiscal Years:

Source: https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/annual-report/annual/documents/infosys-ar-20.pdf

The company, in the previous 3 financial years, has transferred Five Crores Thirty-Three Lakhs Fifteen Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty-Nine Rupees (₹ 5, 33, 15, 889/-) of the unclaimed dividend to the IEPF Account.

Along with it, Infosys in 2019 alone, has transferred 8, 424 shares in the IEPF which are worth almost a crore. This is the data for only one year. The IEPF holds 0.1% shares of Infosys which accumulates to 2, 84, 487 shares. It is a huge chunk of unclaimed shares. The shareholders are thus 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 from time to time. It also provides the amount of outstanding unclaimed dividends. After the expiry of the stated dates, Infosys 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 Infosys:

Source: https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/annual-report/annual/documents/infosys-ar-20.pdf

The table above provides the deadlines to the shareholders of Infosys, to claim their dividends by applying to the Company’s Registrar or the Transfer Agent. After the due dates, provided in the 4^th column, Infosys will be forced to transfer the dividend funds (provided in the 3^rd column) to the IEPF, along with the respective shares.

An investor can check the status of their lost shares of Infosys, from https://www.infosys.com/investors/shareholder-services/transfer-equity-shares.html

For more information, visit https://www.infosys.com/investors/reports-filings/annual-report/annual/documents/infosys-ar-20.pdf

Unclaimed Shares & Lost Dividend under IEPF

If a shareholder has unclaimed shares and lost dividends in the name of IEPF, then he can approach the IEPF fund manager to refund the amount and transfer back the shares in the name of the claimant. The shareholder does not lose his/ her right over the dividend and the shares. Despite the fact, Infosys still encourages its members to claim the dividends on time from the company itself, to avoid its transfer to the IEPF Account. Infosys does this to avoid its members to go through the tiresome procedure of recovering the money and shares from the IEPF Authority. The fund manager follows this rigorous procedure to ensure that the shares get transferred to the rightful owner only. When shares remain unclaimed for such long periods, i.e., 7 years or more, they become prone to someone fraudulent transactions. Due to this, the fund manager makes thorough investigations before initiating the transfer of the amount and the shares. This thorough investigation makes it a time-consuming procedure and it becomes hard for the members to get back their shares. Hence, Infosys advises its members to claim dividends as it is comparatively easier.

For this purpose, the Nodal Officer, appointed by the company under the rules of IEPF, is A. G. S. Manikantha, Company Secretary has been appointed as the Compliance Officer and the Nodal Officer. To contact the Nodal/ Deputy Nodal Officer of Infosys, write an email to Manikantha_AGS@infosys.com.

Why do You Need Legal Help?

As stated above, the application procedure to claim the refund of unclaimed dividends and lost shares is a difficult process. It requires a certain degree of expertise to file the application to the fund manager. Hiring a legal professional can help you to save yourself from this tedious task. Your legal expert will take care of all the work and formalities required to file the refund application. If there are mistakes in an application, the IEPF authority straight away rejects it, and the claimant has to repeat the whole procedure. Hiring a lawyer will ensure that there are no mistakes in your application so that the procedure goes on smoothly. From contacting the nodal officer to collecting the information to filing the application, the lawyer will take care of everything.

Hiring a lawyer will be extremely helpful if your shares are stuck in a family dispute. As mentioned, sometimes, the shareholder dies without any nominee, and he also forgets to put shares in his will. In such a case, all the family members of the deceased come to claim their right to the deceased’s property, i.e., Infosys Shares. Not hiring a legal expert can cost you a fortune that you are entitled to. Why will people leave shares worth crores? If you are without a lawyer, then the other party will easily take your advantage and you will end up with nothing. A lawyer with the command of the law can protect you from all the loopholes which might go against you and thus, can provide you with the best deal possible.

Conclusion…

As we have seen, Infosys is very generous in issuing bonus shares to its shareholders from time to time. This generosity increased your 10 shares, bought in 1993, to 10, 240 shares in number. The company is growing exponentially every year. Its share price has increased from ₹ 95 to ₹ 1, 125 since its IPO. Therefore, if you just came to know about the existence of Infosys shares in your name, then it is the best time to square your profits. It is advised that you check the tables provided above and find the expiry date by which you can claim the dividend from Infosys. If not already transferred into the IEPF, then apply to the Nodal Officer as soon as possible. However, if your dividend amount and shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then find a legal expert as soon as possible. The legal professional will make your job very easy. He will also come in handy in case you want to fight for the shares stuck in a legal dispute.

The post Recovery of Infosys’ Shares from the IEPF can make you Crorepati Over A Night! appeared first on MUDS.

Shares of Nestle India were floating at a price of more than ₹ 18, 000 per share in the market as of 27^th November 2020. How would you feel if you suddenly come to know that you own some shares of this company? Amazing, right? Even a small number of 6 shares will fetch you an amount of more than ₹ 1 lakh.

Excited to know, how? Here, I am going to discuss how you could earn a fortune if you just came to know that there exist shares of Nestle India Ltd. in your name. If there are long-forgotten shares of Nestle India in the name of IEPF Account, which were in your name, then this blog is for you. 

History of the Company

Nestle India Ltd. is an FMCG (“Fast Moving Consumer Goods”) company that was incorporated in 1959. It is a Large Cap company with a market capitalization of ₹1,72,477.59 Crore (One Lakh Seventy-Two Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-Seven Crores Fifty-Nine Lakh Rupees). As of 31^st December 2018, the company earned revenue of ₹ 11, 294.65 Crores. The key products/ revenue segments that contributed to this revenue are as follows:

Even during the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic, it continued to generate profits due to which its share price kept on increasing. During the pandemic itself, the stock price has increased by ₹ 3, 500. In the last quarter, i.e., the quarter ended 30^th September 2020, the company has reported sales of ₹ 3, 525.41 Crores in the stated quarter alone. This is a 15.91% increase from the previous quarter, i.e., the quarter ended 30^th June 2020. The company has earned a net profit of ₹ 587.09 Crores after the tax deduction in the last quarter only. As per the quarterly report, the company has a total of 9, 64, 15, 716 (Nine Crore Sixty-Four Lakhs Fifteen Thousand Seven Hundred Sixteen) shares outstanding at the end of the last quarter.

Nestle India is known for giving its shareholders handsome dividends. To date, the company has given a total of 60 dividends to its shareholders amounting to ₹ 1, 292.5 per share. And in this year alone, the company has declared a dividend of ₹ 196 per share.

P.S.: This information regarding the dividend is based on the data provided from 2001 onwards.)

If you have 600 shares of Nestle India registered under your name, then the value of those shares as of the day would be in crores. The dividend amount alone would be in lakhs.

Calculation

• Suppose you have 600 shares of Nestle India Ltd. registered under your name.
• Now, the price of 1 share of Nestle India Ltd., as of 27^th November 2020, is ₹ 18, 040. Thus, the value of your shares as of date is,

₹ 18, 040 x 600 shares = ₹ 1, 08, 24, 000 (One Crore Eight Lakhs Twenty-Four Thousand)

• The above amount is only the price of the shares. We have not calculated the dividends that you have received so far.
• The amount of Dividend received so far (from 2001) is,

₹ 1, 292.5 x 600 shares = ₹ 7, 75, 500

• The amount of Dividend received in this financial year is,

₹ 196 x 600 shares = ₹ 1, 17, 600

As you can see, the shareholders of Nestle India have received a huge amount of dividends from the company. From 2001 onwards, the shareholders, so far, would have received ₹ 7, 75, 500 while in this year itself, they would have received ₹1,17,600. [According to the Hypothetical above]

Source: https://trendlyne.com/equity/Dividend/NESTLEIND/930/nestle-india-ltd-dividend/

Now, you can calculate your total dividend accordingly.

As you could see, if you had 600 shares of Nestle India registered under your name, then you would have become a Crorepati today. Now, just imagine that you invested in this company a long time ago and then you forgot about the existence of its shares. Or you have inherited some shares from your deceased family member, but you did not know about them. Due to this reason you did not claim any dividend on these shares for 7 years straight. In such a scenario, these shares are not in your possession anymore because they had been transferred to the IEPF account of the Government. This does not mean that you are no longer the rightful owner of those shares. The only difference is that the Government, on your behalf, is keeping your shares and dividend amount safe with them. You can always claim your lost shares and unpaid dividend from the Government under IEPF. The Government introduced this scheme in 2016 to resolve the problem of such ‘long lost and forgotten shares’.

About Investor Education and Protection Fund

The government started this scheme to educate the investors and protect them from losing their rights over the funds and the shares. When the investors used to forget about their shares, they used to get transferred to the Government Funds along with the unclaimed dividend amount. They could then be utilized by the Government for public welfare. Since the problem of people forgetting their shareholdings in a company was increasing, the Government realized that it was causing huge losses for the investors. Therefore, the Government decided to set up the IEPF.  It is a one-stop solution that the government provides to the members of a company. Here, the members can approach the government and claim their dividends and ask them to refund their long-forgotten shares. The IEPF was initiated while keeping in mind the interests of the shareholders. IEPF protected the investors’ funds while spreading awareness regarding the same.

The Government takes care of the unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to this account on behalf of the rightful shareholders. Thus, even after 7 years, investors can claim their dividends and shares from the fund manager by applying to the managing authority. People can claim their dividends and shares of different companies through one platform instead of going to each company individually, that is why IEPF is known as a one-stop solution.

There are various reasons why an investor tends to forget about its investment in a company:

• No Nominee: Usually investors do not appoint a nominee/ heir to take care of the shares after their death. Therefore, the shares remain deserted because the heirs are clueless about their ownership of such shares.
• Small Investments: Generally, the investment is of small amounts due to which an investor forgets about the shares.
• Property Dispute: Shares get attached to the court because proceedings are pending in the courts regarding the property dispute. Thus, the shares remain ownerless till the court’s verdict.

These are amongst many other reasons why an investor forgets about his/ her investment in a company. Due to these reasons, the dividends on the shares remain unclaimed for years and the companies end up with abundant shares lying with them with no sign of ownership.

Provisions Governing IEPF

The functioning of IEPF is governed by the Companies Act, 2013 read with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016. Once a company declares a dividend on the shares, the shareholders get 30 days to claim the said dividend. After 30 days, if the dividends remain unclaimed by the shareholders, then the company, according to the above-stated laws, is obliged to transfer such dividends to a special account. This special account is opened in the name of the company, known as ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’.

After that, the company gets 90 days to publish a list of all the shareholders along with their unclaimed dividends on its website. In addition to this, the company can use any other mode of communication to tell its members about their unclaimed dividends kept with the company. If a shareholder wants to retrieve his unclaimed dividend from the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’, then he has to file an application to the transfer agent of the company. Despite all these, if a shareholder, for any reason stated above, fails to claim the amount from the company for 7 years, then the company shall transfer such unclaimed dividend to the IEPF Account. If the dividends are not claimed for 7 years, then the shares on which such dividend was declared were considered as forgotten shares. Therefore, they also get transferred in the name of the IEPF. Thus, if the dividends remain unclaimed for 7 years, then the dividend and shares, both get transferred to the IEPF Account.

Dividends and Shares of Nestle India Ltd. in IEPF

The Annual Reports of a company state the current status of the dividends and shares of the company which are transferred to the IEPF account. According to the Annual Report of Nestle India Ltd. of 2019-2020, all the unclaimed dividends up to the financial year 1995-1996 which remained unpaid and unclaimed with the company were transferred to the Central Government’s general revenue account. As mentioned above, before the introduction of the IEPF, the companies were supposed to transfer the funds directly to the Central Government.

All the unclaimed dividends, from the financial year 1996-1997 to 2012-2013, remaining deserted with the company, along with the shares, were transferred to the IEPF Account in the name of the Central Government. The unclaimed dividends and shares were transferred to the IEPF pursuant to Section 124, Companies Act, 2013 read with Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016.

Unclaimed dividends declared by the company for the financial year 2012-2013 were recently transferred to the IEPF according to the Annual Report 2019-2020. The deadline to claim the dividends for the financial year of 2013-2014 will be given in the annual financial report of 2020-2021. In case a shareholder wants to claim his/ her dividends, then he/ she can approach the Company Registrar/ Transfer Agent of the Company with the required documents. The shareholders can reach out to the Company Registrar/ Transfer Agent of the Company at M/s Alankit Assignments Limited, Alankit House, 4E/2, Jhandewalan Extension, New Delhi, 110-055.

An investor can check the status of their unclaimed dividend, declared by Nestle, from https://www.alankit.com/searchmodule/search

For more information, visit https://www.nestle.in/sites/g/files/pydnoa451/files/2020-05/Nestle-India-Annual-Report-2019.pdf

Dividend transferred to the IEPF

According to the Annual Report 2019-2020 of the company, Nestle India has transferred the following unclaimed dividend to the IEPF during the Financial Year of 2019:

Source: https://www.nestle.in/sites/g/files/pydnoa451/files/2020-05/Nestle-India-Annual-Report-2019.pdf

In the previous financial year, Nestle India Ltd. has transferred an amount of Ninety-Eight Lakhs Twenty-Four Thousand One Hundred Seventy-Eight Rupees of unpaid and unclaimed dividend to the IEPF account of the Central Government. By looking at the amount of dividend, you can very well imagine the number of shares which lie unclaimed in the IEPF account. In the previous year itself, the company has transferred 4, 806 shares in the IEPF which amount to ₹ 8, 65, 08, 000. In total, the IEPF Account holds 0.1% of the total shareholding of Nestle India, i.e., 95, 575 shares. This amounts to ₹ 1, 72, 03, 50, 000. The shareholders, who forgot about their shares, are in loss of more than One Hundred Seventy-Two Crore Rupees.

P.S.: This amount is calculated by multiplying the shares transferred by the current price of the share.

95, 575 shares x ₹ 18, 000 = ₹ 1, 72, 03, 50, 000

As we can see, the amount of the unclaimed shares transferred to the IEPF account is more than a hundred crore. The company has a huge chunk of unclaimed shares in the IEPF. Thus, the shareholders are strongly 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.

Unclaimed Shares & Lost Dividend Transferred to IEPF

Now, you might be wondering as to what happens to the shares and the dividend transferred to the IEPF. Do you still retain the right over the unclaimed dividend and the lost shares?

The short answer to that question is “Yes”. Yes, you do retain rights over the dividend and the lost shares, irrespective of the fact that the same has been transferred to the IEPF Account. As mentioned above, earlier it used to happen that the shareholder loses the rights over the dividend amount and the shares once they were transferred to the Government funds. But with the introduction of IEPF, a shareholder no longer loses his/ her right over the dividend amount as well as the shares. He/ She can apply to the fund manager to transfer the dividend amount accumulated and the shares back to the name of the original shareholder or the heirs of the same, as the case may be. Despite the fact, Nestle India still encourages its members to claim the dividends on time from the company itself, to avoid its transfer to the IEPF Account. The company sends individual letters, through posts and other modes of communication, to make their shareholders aware of their holdings in the company. Nestle India does this to prevent its members from going through the rigorous and tiresome procedure of recovering the money and shares from the IEPF Authority. The fund manager follows this rigorous procedure to ensure that the shares get transferred to the actual owner only. When shares remain unclaimed for a long period, i.e., 7 years or more, they become prone to someone fraudulently transferring them to his name. Thus, to avoid such fraudulent transfers, the fund manager makes thorough scrutinization of all the applications before initiating the transfer of the amount and the shares. Due to this thorough scrutinization, the procedure becomes time-consuming and it becomes hard for the members to get their shares back. That is why Nestle India recommends its shareholders to claim the dividends from the company from time to time as it takes less time and is an easy process. To claim the dividends, the shareholders have to apply to the Registrar or the Transfer Agent of the Company at the above-mentioned address. However, if your shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then you can approach the Nodal Officer, Balasubramaniam Murli, or the Deputy Nodal Officer, Pramod Kumar Rai, of the Company, appointed in this regard. To contact the Nodal/ Deputy Nodal Officer of Nestle India, write an email to Nodal.officer@IN.nestle.com.

The Necessity of Legal Help?

As stated above, the procedure to claim the refund of unclaimed dividends and lost shares from the IEPF Authority is a difficult and technical process. A certain degree of expertise is required to file the application to the fund manager. Hiring a legal professional can help you to save yourself from this tedious task. Your legal expert will take care of all the work and formalities required to file the refund application to the IEPF. If there are mistakes in an application, the IEPF authority straight away rejects it, and the claimant has to repeat the whole procedure. Your lawyer will ensure that there are no mistakes in your application so that the authority approves it without any objections. From contacting the nodal officer to collect information to filing the application with the authority, the lawyer will take care of everything.

Hiring a lawyer will be extremely helpful if your shares are stuck in a family dispute. As mentioned, sometimes, the shareholder dies without any nominee, and he also forgets to put shares in his will. In such a case, all the family members of the deceased come to claim their right to the deceased’s property, i.e., Nestle Shares in this case. Not hiring a legal expert can cost you a fortune that you are entitled to. Why will people leave shares worth crores? These disputes can take a long period of time to get settled. And if you are without a lawyer, then the other party will walk all over you and you will be left with nothing but pennies. A legal professional or a legal firm will represent you in all such disputes related to the ownership of the shares. A lawyer with the command of the law can protect you from all the loopholes which might go against you and thus, can provide you with the best deal possible.

Conclusion…

Nestle India is one of the largest and diverse FMCG companies with constant growth. Even this year, when everyone was struggling to cope up with the pandemic, the stock prices of this company managed to increase by ₹ 3, 500 per share. Due to this ever-increasing pace, the price of 1 share of Nestle India was floating at ₹ 18,000 per share. Therefore, it is the best time to sell some of your shares and secure a good profit. It might even help you to cope up with the financial difficulties, if any, that arose due to the pandemic. So, if you just came to know about the existence of any such shares in your name, which were left to you by your deceased family member, then it is the best time to claim them from the IEPF fund manager. In addition to your shares, you will also receive the dividend accumulated over time. I would advise you to check out the links mentioned above that will take you to the required section of the company’s website. Gather information regarding your dividends accumulated so far, along with your shareholding in the company, and file an application to claim your dividend from Nestle India Ltd. You will have to apply to the Nodal Officer of the Company, by contacting them at Nodal.officer@IN.nestle.com. If your dividend amount and shares are already transferred to the IEPF, even then you can claim the same by filing an application to the fund manager of the IEPF. For this, hire 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. A legal expert will also help you to fight for the shares stuck in a family dispute.

The post Recovery of Nestle India Shares from IEPF appeared first on MUDS.

Yes, you read it right. This unbelievable milestone is achieved by Bajaj Finance Ltd. It has provided a return of 1,00,000% to its shareholders. In March 2009, the shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd. were floating at a price of ₹ 4.69 per share on the stock exchange. As of November 2020, the share price is more than ₹ 4, 700 per share. This simply means that if you had invested ₹ 10, 000 in the stocks of Bajaj Finance Ltd. in March 2009, then the current value of those shares would be in Crores.

History of the Company

Bajaj Finance Ltd. is the most diversified NBFC in India. It is a subsidiary of Bajaj Finserv Ltd., which in turn is a subsidiary of Bajaj Holding and Investment Ltd. It was incorporated in March 1987 as a private company. The company went public in 1994. It offered equity shares of ₹ 10 each at a premium of ₹ 80 per share. In 2000, the company crossed the milestone of ₹ 500 Crores in annual disbursement. By 2006, the company doubled this figure. In 2006 only, the Company’s Assets Under Management (“AUM”) crossed ₹ 1, 000 Crores. The shareholder’s funds crossed the benchmark of ₹ 1, 000 Crores in 2008. This figure doubled in 2012. Next year in 2013, the Company’s Assets Under Management (“AUM”) crossed the milestone of ₹ 20, 000 Crores. In 2014, Bajaj Finance Ltd. acquired Bajaj Financial Solutions Ltd. for ₹ 17 Crores. In 2017, the company crossed yet another benchmark of ₹ 75, 000 crore AUM. It also bagged the 16^th position in the overall market cap ranking by crossing the market capital of ₹ 1.5 Lakh Crores. Although the pandemic affected the business, the company still managed to increase its AUM by 27% making it worth ₹ 1, 47, 153 Crores.

Even during the setback of the COVID-19 pandemic, it continued to generate profits due to which its share price kept on increasing. It provides less dividend as compared to other companies. So far, the company has provided a dividend of ₹ 164.1 per share. And in this year alone, the company has provided a dividend of ₹ 16 per share.

P.S.: This information regarding the dividend is based on the data provided from 2001 onwards.)

Though its dividend may not seem very attractive, but the heights its share price has reached is commendable. If you had invested ₹ 5, 000 in March 2009 in its shares, then the value of those shares as of the day would be in crores.

Calculation

• Suppose you bought shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd. in March 2009 for ₹ 5, 000.
• The No. of shares you would have bought = ₹ 5, 000/ ₹ 4.69
• Thus, you would have purchased 1, 066 shares.
• In 2012, the company issued bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.

[Bonus Shares are the shares issued by a company to its shareholders as fully paid up shares without receiving any money from their shareholders. In other words, the company, by issuing bonus shares, gives a gift to its shareholders].

Issuing bonus shares at a 1:1 ratio means, that for every share owned by a shareholder, the company will issue another share in his name. This means that if you had 1, 066 shares, in the beginning, then it has now become 2, 132 shares, i.e., double the initial shares.

• Now, the price of 1 share of Bajaj Finance Ltd., as of 20^th November 2020, is ₹ 4, 717. Thus, the value of your shares as of date is,

₹ 4, 717 x 2, 132 shares = ₹ 1, 00, 56, 644 (One Crore Fifty-Six Thousand Six Hundred Forty-Four)

• The above amount is only the price of the shares. We have not calculated the dividends that you have received so far.
• As we have stated, the dividend is not much but ₹ 34, 112 is no less. And this is the dividend received only in this financial year.

Source: https://www.bajajfinserv.in/shareholders-information-dividend-history

Now you can calculate your total dividend accordingly.

So, if you had invested ₹ 5, 000, eleven (11) years ago, in the shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd., then you would have become a Crorepati today. Now, suppose you forgot about the existence of these shares and therefore, have not claimed its dividend for the past 7 years straight. If that is the case, then you are not in the possession of these shares anymore, although you are the rightful owner of the same. The said shares have been transferred to the IEPF Account of the Government. As per the Government’s guidelines, such shares are now treated as forgotten shares because no one has claimed dividends on them for more than seven years. Since the shares had unclaimed dividends, they are now in the possession of the Government of India under the Investor Education and Protection Fund (“IEPF”). The Government introduced it in 2016 to resolve the problem of such ‘long lost and forgotten shares’.

About Investor Education and Protection Fund

As stated above, the Government introduced the IEPF to address the ever-increasing problem of people forgetting their shareholdings in a company. The IEPF was launched to promote the protection of interest, and awareness of the investors. The unclaimed dividend and lost shares transferred to this account are taken care of by the Government on behalf of the rightful shareholders. The dividends on the shares remain unclaimed for years because people tend to forget that they own the shares in the first place. There are multiple reasons why people forget about their ownership in a company:

• Investors forget to appoint a nominee for their shares. Therefore, the heirs remain clueless about their ownership of such shares, and the shares remain deserted.
• A small amount of investment makes investors forget about the shares.
• Shares get attached to the court’s proceedings for they become a part of the property dispute. Thus, remain ownerless till the court’s verdict.

There are many other reasons why an investor forgets about his/ her shareholding in a company. This is the reason why many companies have abundant shares with them with no sign of ownership.

Before the introduction of the IEPF, the companies were required to transfer the unclaimed dividends and unclaimed shares to the government funds which were used by the Government under various public welfare schemes and for various developmental works. When the Government saw that it was a very big loss for the investors, then the Government decided to set up the IEPF. It is a platform provided to the investors where they can approach the government to claim their dividends and ask them to refund their long-forgotten shares. Investors can claim their dividends and shares from the fund manager by applying to the managing authority. Because of the establishment of IEPF, people can claim their dividends and shares of different companies through one platform instead of going to each company individually.

Laws Governing IEPF

Companies Act, 2013 and Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016 are applicable on the functioning of the IEPF. These laws state that the shareholders get 30 days to claim the dividend after it gets declared by a company. If the dividends remain unclaimed by the shareholders, then the company must transfer such dividends to a special account, opened in the name of the company, called ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’.

The company has to publish a list of all the shareholders along with their unclaimed dividend on its website within 90 days of transferring the amount to the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’. Once the amount reaches the ‘Unpaid Dividend Account’, the shareholders have to file an application to the transfer agent of the company to claim the payment of the unclaimed dividends. If the shareholder fails to claim the amount for 7 years or more due to the above-mentioned reasons or any other reason, then the company is required to transfer the unclaimed dividend to the IEPF. Since the dividend remains unclaimed for more than 7 years, the shares are also considered as forgotten. Thus, they are also transferred in the name of the IEPF along with their dividends.

Note: The shares which are transferred in the name of the IEPF are the ones on which the dividend has been declared by the company, and the shareholders have failed to claim the same for a consecutive period of 7 years.

Dividends and Shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd. in IEPF

The Annual Reports of a company state the current status of the dividends and shares of the company which is transferred to the IEPF account. According to the Annual Report, 2019-2020 of Bajaj Finance Ltd., all the unclaimed dividends up to the financial year 1995-1996 accumulated with the company were transferred to the general revenue account of the Central Government. As stated above, before the introduction of the IEPF, the funds used to get transferred directly to the Central Government. The shareholders, who want to claim the stated amounts must apply to the Registrar of Companies (“RoC”), Maharashtra. The complete address of the RoC where the shareholders will have to approach is Registrar of Companies (“RoC”), Maharashtra, Pune, Block A, 1^st and 2^nd Floor, PCNTDA Green Building, Near Akurdi Railway Station, Pune (411-044).

All the unclaimed dividends, from the financial year 1996-1997 to 2013-2014, accumulated with the company, along with the shares, were transferred to the IEPF Account in the name of the Central Government. The unclaimed dividends and shares were transferred to the IEPF pursuant to Section 124, Companies Act, 2013 read with Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016, for the shareholders failed to claim their dividends for more than 7 years.

Unclaimed dividends declared by the company for the financial year 2013-2014 were recently transferred to the IEPF in August 2020. The deadline to claim the dividends for the financial year of 2014-2015 will be given in this year’s annual financial report. In case a shareholder wants to claim his/ her dividends, then he/ she can approach the Company Registrar/ Transfer Agent of the Company with the required documents.

An investor can check the status of their unclaimed dividend, declared by TCS, from https://www.bajajfinserv.in/finance-investor-relations-unclaimed-dividends

Shares transferred to the IEPF

According to the Annual Report 2019-2020 of the company, Asian Paints has transferred the following unclaimed shares to the IEPF during the Financial Year of 2020:

Source: https://www.bajajfinserv.in/fy20-bajaj-finance-limited-annual-report.pdf

In the previous financial year, Bajaj Finance Ltd. has transferred Seventy Thousand Two Hundred (70, 200) unclaimed shares in the account of IEPF. The total number of shareholders whose shares were transferred to the IEPF is 64. It might seem that the number of shareholders, whose shares are transferred to the IEPF, is not much. But if we compare it to the number of shares they held, then we can see the amount of loss those 64 shareholders have incurred. The 64 shareholders together lost the shares worth ₹33,11,33,400 (Thirty-Three Crores Eleven Lakhs Thirty-Three Thousand Four Hundred).

P.S.: This amount is calculated by multiplying the shares transferred by the current price of the share.

70, 200 shares x ₹ 4, 717 = ₹ 33, 11, 33, 400

As we can see, 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.

Unclaimed Shares & Unclaimed Dividend Transferred to IEPF

What happens to the shares and the dividend transferred to the IEPF? Do you lose all your rights over your dividend income along with your shares?

As stated above, a shareholder used to lose the rights over the dividend amount and the shares once they were transferred to the Government funds. However, with the introduction of IEPF, a shareholder retains his/ her right over the dividend amount as well as the shares which were transferred to the IEPF Account. All he has to do is apply to the fund manager of the IEPF. Nonetheless, Bajaj Finance Ltd. still send individual letters, through posts and other modes of communication, to make their shareholders aware of their holdings in the company and ask them to make timely claims for their dividends. Once the dividends, along with the shares, get transferred to the IEPF, then it becomes a little difficult for the shareholders to recover their shares. This is because the procedure followed by the fund manager, to refund the dividend amounts and the shares, is time-consuming. To make sure that the refund goes to the rightful owner, they make thorough scrutinization of all the applications before initiating the transfer of the amount and the shares. This is the reason why Bajaj Finance Ltd. advises its shareholders to claim the dividend from the company itself as it takes less time, and it is an easy process. The shareholders can apply to the Company’s Registrar or the Transfer Agent to claim the dividends. However, if your shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then you can approach the Nodal Officer of the company, appointed in this regard. To contact the Nodal Officer of Bajaj Finance Ltd., write an email to investor.service@bajajfinserv.in.

The Necessity of Legal Help?

The application procedure to claim the refund of lost shares and unclaimed dividends from the IEPF Authority is a tricky and tedious process, and it requires a certain degree of technical knowledge. If you hire a legal professional, then you can circumvent this headache as your legal expert will take care of this. He will also ensure that the application contains no mistakes to avoid rejection from the IEPF Authority. He will also do all the tedious tasks; from collecting the information from the company about the dividend and shares to collecting the required documents to filing the said application.

If your shares are involved in any family dispute, then the legal expert will come in handy. As stated above, it is common for a shareholder to die before appointing any nominee. In such a case, the family members of the deceased come to claim his property which includes the shares he bought in his lifetime. Nobody wants to leave the shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd. which are worth more than a crore. I mean who will want to let go of such shares for nothing. And when there are so many claiming members in a family, then there is always a family dispute. A legal professional or a legal firm will help you to manage all such disputes related to the ownership of the shares. A lawyer knows all the laws and nitty-gritty of the loopholes around the distribution of the family assets, therefore, he can provide you with the best deal possible.

To Conclude…

As we have seen, Bajaj Finance Ltd. has given a return of 1, 00, 000% to its shareholders in the last 11 years. Due to this ever-increasing pace of the share price, ₹ 5, 000 invested in the shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd. in March 2009 are worth more than ₹ 1 Crore today. It is the best time to sell these shares as it will also help you to cope with the financial difficulties, if any, arose due to the pandemic. Thus, if you just came to know about the existence of such shares in your name, which were left to you by your deceased family member, then it is the best time to redeem them. You will also receive the dividend accumulated over time. An unexpected gift of ₹ 1 Crore is nothing less than hitting a jackpot. It is advised that you check out the links above that will take you to the required section of the company’s website. Gather information regarding your dividends accumulated so far, along with your shareholding in the company, and file an application to claim your dividend from Bajaj Finance Ltd. You will have to apply to the Nodal Officer of the Company, by contacting them at investor.service@bajajfinserv.in. However, if your dividend amount and shares are already transferred to the IEPF, then you will have to file your application through the fund manager of the IEPF. For this, I will advise you to 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. A legal expert will also help you to fight for the shares stuck in a family dispute.

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