Nodal Officer

When a company transfers unclaimed dividends or shares to the Investor Education and Protection Fund, the rightful owner can still claim them back. But the IEPF Authority cannot tell by itself whether a claimant is genuine — the records that prove it sit with the company.

So the rules require every such company to name one senior person to do that checking and to deal with the Authority: the Nodal Officer. The workbook is specific about who can hold the job — a Director, the Chief Financial Officer or the Company Secretary of the company.

For an investor trying to recover a holding, the Nodal Officer is the person the physical claim papers are addressed to.

Who must appoint one. Every company that is required to credit amounts or shares to the Fund, or has already deposited amounts or transferred shares to it, must nominate a Nodal Officer for verification of claims and coordination with the IEPF Authority.

Disclosure. The details of the Nodal Officer and the Deputy Nodal Officer — designation, postal address, telephone and mobile number, and company-authorised e-mail ID — are communicated to the IEPF Authority. The company displays the Nodal Officer's name and e-mail ID on its website. Any change is communicated to the Authority through Form No. IEPF-2 within 7 days of the change, along with the board resolution.

What the Nodal Officer does in a claim.

1. Nodal and Deputy Nodal Officers issue Entitlement Letters to claimants, with all the details needed to file Form IEPF-5.
2. The claimant files IEPF-5 online and sends the original indemnity bond, a copy of the acknowledgement and a self-attested copy of the e-form, with the listed documents, to the Nodal Officer (IEPF) at the company's registered office, in an envelope marked "Claim for refund from IEPF Authority".
3. The company verifies genuineness and entitlement — through Aadhaar, PAN, passport or other government ID, and matching of signature and photo — retains the originals, and checks the amount and shares claimed against its own e-filings to the Authority.
4. It submits an e-verification report to the Authority, which releases the refund to the claimant's Aadhaar-linked bank account by electronic transfer.

Any fraudulent claim is deemed a fraud and the claimant is liable accordingly. For claimants aged 75 years and above, the Authority's Special Window Facility prioritises the claim once the company's e-verification report is received.

Illustrative figures. A 78-year-old investor learns that 2,400 shares of a company, and unclaimed dividends of Rs 19,200 on them, were transferred to the IEPF years ago.

Dividends unclaimed = Rs 8 per share × 2,400 shares = Rs 19,200

She finds the Nodal Officer's name and e-mail on the company's website — the company's Company Secretary — and asks for an Entitlement Letter. It arrives with the folio, the share quantity and the amounts, exactly as the company reported them in its IEPF filings.

She files Form IEPF-5 online, then posts the original indemnity bond, the acknowledgement and the self-attested e-form to the Company Secretary at the registered office, marked Claim for refund from IEPF Authority.

The company matches her signature and photograph, checks her Aadhaar and PAN, confirms 2,400 shares and Rs 19,200 against its own e-filings, keeps her originals and uploads its e-verification report. Because she is over 75, the Authority prioritises her claim under the Special Window Facility once the company's e-verification report arrives, and releases the refund electronically to her Aadhaar-linked bank account.

Midway, the Company Secretary resigns and the CFO takes over as Nodal Officer. The company has 7 days to tell the Authority, through Form IEPF-2, with the board resolution.

Chapter 6.3 (Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority) sets out the appointment, disclosure and verification duties; Chapter 12.7 gives the claim procedure. Expect: who can be a Nodal Officer (Director, CFO or CS), the 7-day window for reporting a change, and where the physical claim documents are sent (the Nodal Officer at the company's registered office — not the IEPF Authority, not the RTA).

• The Nodal Officer is an officer of the company — a Director, CFO or Company Secretary. Not an RTA employee, not an officer of the IEPF Authority.
• Physical claim documents go to the company's Nodal Officer, while Form IEPF-5 itself is filed online with the Authority.
• The company verifies; the Authority refunds. The refund is released on the basis of the company's verification report.
• Change of Nodal Officer: 7 days, through Form IEPF-2, with the board resolution. The workbook uses the same form number that it also gives for the annual statement of unclaimed amounts — do not assume a question has a typo.
• Refunds go to an Aadhaar-linked bank account, by electronic transfer.
• The Special Window is for claimants aged 75 and above — not 60, the senior-citizen age used for Form 15H.