How to Claim Shares From IEPF: Form IEPF-5 (2026)

If you are working out how to claim shares from IEPF, the first thing to know is that the form changed recently. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs substituted Form No. IEPF-5 by notification G.S.R. 733(E) dated 1 October 2025, and the new form came into force from 6 October 2025. Guides written before that date describe fields that no longer exist. The route itself is unchanged: one online form, then a physical envelope to the company, then verification.

How to claim shares from IEPF: the statutory basis

The right to claim exists in two places in the Companies Act, 2013.

The proviso to section 124(6) says that any claimant of shares transferred to the Fund is entitled to claim the transfer of those shares back, in accordance with such procedure and on submission of such documents as may be prescribed. Section 125(4) then gives any person claiming to be entitled to an amount referred to in section 125(2) the right to apply to the authority constituted under section 125(5) for payment of the money claimed. Section 125(3)(a) names refunds of unclaimed dividends, matured deposits, matured debentures and application money due for refund as a purpose of the Fund.

Form IEPF-5 is the prescribed instrument for both the shares and the money. Field 6 of the form asks the claimant to select the type of claim: shares, amount, or amount and shares.

What the new form asks for

The form opens with a question that did not lead the old one. Field 1 asks whether an entitlement letter has been issued by the company or bank, and where the answer is yes, a copy is to be attached. Field 2 asks whether the claim is being filed by the claimant or by an authorised representative, and a signed copy of the authority letter is required in the second case.

From there the form collects, in order:

1. Applicant particulars. Individual or entity. For an individual: name, father's name and date of birth. For an entity: type, CIN, FCRN, LLPIN, FLLPIN or registration number, name and date of incorporation.
2. Contact details. Address, and a mobile number and email ID that are each verified in the form by one-time password.
3. Identity. Aadhaar of the claimant, and of all joint holders where there are any. Passport, OCI or PIO card for foreigners and non-resident Indians. PAN, with an in-form validation step.
4. The company or bank. CIN or bank corporate identification number, name, registered office address and email ID of the entity the amount is due from.
5. Transfer or transmission. Field 5(a) asks whether the case falls under rule 7(8) and rule 7(9) of the 2016 Rules, and opens the death certificate, succession certificate, probate or will, no objection certificate, and indemnity bond and surety affidavit fields if it does.
6. The claim itself. Up to fifteen folio entries for shares, each with type of holding (physical or demat), the folio number or complete demat account number from which the transfer to IEPF was made, type of share (equity or preference) and number of shares. Up to fifteen entries for amounts, each with type of claim, amount, the financial year the claim relates to, and the reason for non-receipt or non-encashment of the payment instrument.
7. Where the money and shares go. Depository (NSDL or CDSL) and an active demat account number with both DPID and client ID for the shares, which the form validates. Bank account number, bank name, IFSC and MICR for the amount.

Three attachments are mandatory: the client master list of the claimant's demat account or a transaction statement for the demat holding, the securities certificate or equivalent proof, and a copy of a bank cheque.

The physical step people miss

Filing online does not complete the claim. The claimant declaration in the form is explicit that after filing the refund claim online, the claimant or authorised representative shall send the prescribed attachments to the Nodal Officer for IEPF of the company or bank at its registered office, in an envelope marked "claim for refund from IEPF Authority", for initiating the verification of the claim.

The form lists ten items for that envelope:

1. Print out of the duly filled claim form with claimant signature
2. Copy of the acknowledgement mail
3. Indemnity bond in original with claimant signature
4. Original certificate, in the case of refund of a matured deposit or debenture
5. Copy of Aadhaar card
6. Proof of entitlement, such as the share certificate, interest warrant or application number
7. Cancelled cheque leaf
8. Copy of passport, OCI or PIO card for foreigners and non-resident Indians
9. Signed copy of the authority letter, where an authorised representative is filing
10. Other optional documents, if any

So the company is not a bystander in this process. It is the verifier, which is also why the entitlement letter now sits in field 1.

The declaration carries teeth

The form requires the claimant to declare that they have not claimed and will not claim the same shares or amount under the same folio or for the same financial year on any earlier occasion for that company or bank. A note at the foot of the form draws attention to section 448 of the Companies Act, 2013, under which a false statement in any material particular, or the omission of a material fact known to be material, in a document required under the Act makes the person liable under section 447.

Which version of the rules applies

The principal rules were published by notification G.S.R. 854(E) dated 5 September 2016. The note at the foot of G.S.R. 733(E) records the amendment chain since: G.S.R. 178(E) dated 28 February 2017, G.S.R. 1267(E) dated 13 October 2017, G.S.R. 472(E) dated 22 May 2018, G.S.R. 343(E) dated 1 May 2019, G.S.R. 571(E) dated 14 August 2019, G.S.R. 396(E) dated 9 June 2021, G.S.R. 785(E) dated 9 November 2021, G.S.R. 791(E) dated 12 November 2021, G.S.R. 888(E) dated 28 December 2021, G.S.R. 414(E) dated 16 July 2024 and G.S.R. 552(E) dated 9 September 2024.

If a page describing this process does not name a vintage, treat its field list as unverified.

Where this sits in the disclosure picture

The IEPF claim route is Ministry of Corporate Affairs territory, not an exchange or SEBI filing, so none of it shows up in the disclosure feeds Flock reads.

• IEPF transfer of shares is the rule that put the shares there in the first place.
• The unpaid dividend account is the staging account the money passes through on its way to the Fund.
• Transmission of securities covers the same succession documents in the ordinary, non-IEPF case.
• The shareholding pattern is where a listed company's ownership is disclosed quarter by quarter.

Flock reports the filings themselves, each stamped with its date and linked back to the exchange or regulator that published it. What any of it means for you is your call to make.