Govt further simplifies claim settlement process

In a major step towards the mission of Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has further simplified the claim settlement process  through rationalisation of various requirements under the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer, and Refund) Rules, 2016.The focus of the change has been to make the process simpler and quicker for the claimants. The new regime envisages a trust-based model for faster citizen centric services and turnaround time. It is expected that with these changes many more claimants shall come forward to claim their shares and amounts from Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA). 

MCA has said, for claimants, requirement of Advance Receipt has been waived off, requirement of Succession Certificate has been relaxed up to  5,00,000 five lakh rupees both for Physical and DEMAT shares. Notarization of documents has been replaced with self-attestation and requirements of Affidavits and Surety relatively have been eased. For companies, requirement of attaching documents related to Unclaimed Suspense Account has been eased and companies have been given flexibility to accept transmission documents, Succession Certificate as per their internal approved procedures. Till date, Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) has approved more than 20,000 claims refunding more than 1.29 crore shares. IEPFA works under the administrative control of MCA. Till date IEPFA has approved more than 20,000 claims refunding more than 1.29 crore shares. Shares of market value of more than Rs 1,011 crore and dividends and other amounts exceeding Rs 20 crore have been refunded.