Companies Act 2013 on WebNotes

Zerodha IEPF FAQs: unclaimed shares and dividends

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is a statutory fund under Section 125 of the Companies Act 2013, administered by the IEPF Authority under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, into which a company must transfer any share whose dividend has gone unpaid or unclaimed for seven consecutive years, together with the unclaimed dividend itself, under Sections 124(5) and 124(6). For a Zerodha client this transfer is the company’s act, not the broker’s, and the shares are recoverable by filing Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal after obtaining an entitlement letter from the company.

How to claim unclaimed dividend from the IEPF

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This guide walks an investor or a legal heir through reclaiming a dividend, and where applicable the underlying shares, that have been transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) after seven years of remaining unclaimed. The claim is made through Form IEPF-5 on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal. The process is broker-neutral; for the broker-specific variant using a Zerodha demat account see how to claim unclaimed dividends through IEPF via Zerodha , and for mutual fund units see how to claim IEPF mutual fund units .

Companies Act 2013

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Companies Act 2013 is the foundational corporate-law statute of India, enacted by the Parliament of India on 29 August 2013 and brought into force in phases beginning 12 September 2013 with full operationality from 1 April 2014. The Act replaces the Companies Act 1956 and governs every aspect of Indian companies from incorporation through liquidation: corporate structure, share capital, board composition, financial reporting, audit, related-party transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate social responsibility, and dissolution. The Act applies uniformly to private companies, public companies (listed and unlisted), one-person companies, and section 8 (not-for-profit) companies, with specific provisions for each category.

Director Identification Number (DIN)

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Director Identification Number (DIN) is the unique 8-digit identifier issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) under Sections 153-159 of the Companies Act 2013 to every person who serves as a director on the board of an Indian company. The DIN is mandatory: no person can be appointed as a director without first obtaining a DIN. The framework was introduced under the Companies Act 1956 (Section 266A) effective 1 November 2006 and was retained and refined under the Companies Act 2013.

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is the specialist quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates company-law and corporate-insolvency matters. Constituted under Chapter XXVII of the Companies Act 2013 (Sections 407-434), the NCLT became operational from 1 June 2016 and consolidated jurisdictions previously divided across the Company Law Board (CLB) under the Companies Act 1956, the High Courts (for company-law matters), and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) for industrial-sickness cases. The NCLT became the principal adjudicating authority for the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC) when the IBC was operationalised in late 2016, further expanding its role.

Registrar of Companies (RoC)

Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Registrar of Companies (RoC) is the statutory office in India under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) that administers the Companies Act 2013 and its predecessor legislations across all Indian companies. The office is established under Section 396 of the Companies Act 2013 and operates through 22 regional jurisdictions covering the states and union territories of India. Every Indian company, whether private or public, listed or unlisted, interacts with the RoC at multiple points in its lifecycle: at incorporation, in annual return and financial statement filings, on board and shareholder resolution registrations, on charge registrations, and ultimately at strike-off or wind-up.

Mutual fund auditor (India)

Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The mutual fund auditor (India) is the independent chartered accountant firm appointed by the trustees of a mutual fund, with the prior approval of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, to conduct the annual statutory audit of the financial statements of each scheme. The role is constituted under Regulation 55 and the Eleventh Schedule of the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996 , framed under the SEBI Act, 1992 , and overlays the parallel statutory audit of the asset management company under the Companies Act, 2013.

How to claim unclaimed dividends through IEPF via Zerodha

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is a statutory fund established under Section 125 of the Companies Act 2013. Any dividend that remains unclaimed by investors for seven consecutive years is transferred to the IEPF. More significantly, the corresponding shares (in whose respect those dividends were declared) are also transferred from the investor’s demat account or the company’s physical register to the IEPF Authority’s demat account.

Investors who have missed dividend claims or whose shares have been transferred to IEPF can reclaim both the cash dividends and the shares by filing a claim through the IEPF Authority. This guide explains the complete process, including how your Zerodha demat account is used as the target for returned shares.

How to handle a merger or demerger on Zerodha

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A merger (or amalgamation) is a corporate action in which two or more companies combine into a single entity, with shareholders of the merging (transferor) company receiving shares of the surviving (transferee) company in exchange for their old shares, according to a share swap ratio. A demerger is the reverse: a company separates one or more of its businesses into a newly listed entity, with existing shareholders receiving shares in the new company in addition to (or in exchange for) a portion of their existing shares.

How to participate in a capital reduction on Zerodha

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A capital reduction is a corporate action in which a listed company reduces its paid-up share capital. Capital reductions are used for several purposes:

To return surplus cash to shareholders (return of capital).
To write off accumulated losses against capital (loss absorption, with no cash return).
To restructure the balance sheet before a merger, demerger, or restructuring.
To reduce the face value of shares (face value reduction without cash return).

Capital reductions are governed by Section 66 of the Companies Act, 2013, and require approval from both the shareholders (by special resolution) and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). After NCLT sanction, the company reduces its share capital by cancelling or buying back a portion of paid-up capital, or by reducing the face value per share.

How to participate in a scheme-of-arrangement event on Zerodha

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A scheme of arrangement is a court-approved corporate restructuring mechanism available under Sections 230 to 232 of the Companies Act, 2013. It is the umbrella legal structure under which mergers, demergers, capital reductions, amalgamations, and complex business reorganisations are implemented in India. The scheme requires approval from:

The shareholders of the company (by a majority in number representing three-fourths in value of those voting).
The creditors (if creditors are affected).
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which gives the final sanction.

Once the NCLT order is obtained and filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the scheme is legally effective and binding on all shareholders, including those who voted against it. Individual shareholder participation during the scheme process (voting) is, however, important and a legal right.