What started as an ordinary day became a surprising opportunity for Rattan Dhillon from Chandigarh. A car enthusiast with limited knowledge of the stock market, Dhillon discovered physical share certificates of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) hidden in his home.
In a now-viral post on X (formerly Twitter), Dhillon shared images of the share certificates, which had been purchased in 1988 for only Rs 10 per share. He explained that these shares belonged to a deceased family member, and he had no idea of their current worth or how to go about claiming them.
"We found these at home, but I have no idea about the stock market. Can someone with expertise guide us on whether we still own these shares?" Dhillon said in his post.
IEPFA Responded
Surprisingly, The Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) responded to the post, requesting Dhillon to share his contact information for further assistance. “Dear stakeholder, Thank you for reaching out regarding the share certificates you found. We understand that navigating the stock market can be challenging, and we're here to help guide you. Regarding your query about whether you still own those shares, we recommend utilizing the new Search Facility on the IEPFA (Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority) website. If the shares have remained unclaimed for a certain period, they may have been transferred to the IEPFA. You can verify this by accessing the search facility directly through this link: https://iepfa.gov.in/login,” it said.
“This facility allows you to search for unclaimed shares that have been transferred to the IEPFA. Please log in or register on the website and follow the instructions provided to conduct your search. If your shares are indeed with the IEPFA, the website will provide you with the necessary steps to claim them,” it added.
In the meantime, the comments section of the post became a hotspot for financial analysis. Many users calculated the current value of the shares, estimating them to be worth over Rs 11 lakh today.
One of the users wrote, “Rough approximate calculations: Total initial shares = 30. After 3 splits and 2 bonuses, it should be 960 shares today. Today’s value is approximately Rs 11.88 lakhs.”
“Yeah! You have to email them, with the attached proof, and they have their process to credit these to your Demat. You’ll need to bring these to their office for verification, and then they will credit these shares digitally to your demat, the total ones after splits etc,” wrote a second user.
However, in a follow-up post, Dhillon shared that he has decided against going for the claim procedure since the process is too lengthy. "It seems Dhirubhai Ambani’s signatures will go to waste, as I’ve decided not to proceed with digitizing the shares. The process is just too lengthy—obtaining the legal heir certificate alone takes 6-8 months, and the IEPFA process reportedly takes 2-3 years. I don’t see the value in investing so much time. India really needs to streamline its paperwork. For now, I’ll simply keep the physical share certificates."