Physical share holders cash in on bull run

Ahmedabad: The bull run on the Indian stock market has transformed the fates of many. Stockbrokers say they are seeing large numbers of people come to get their physical shares dematerialized. Stockbrokers say there are many investors and their legal heirs who do not have demat accounts and hold old physical shares. Such owners are now initiating the process to get these physical shares dematerialized. Several lucky ones have hit the veritable jackpot with these old shares, while many are holding physical shares whose values are now zero. Mukesh Shah, a senior citizen living in Ahmedabad, had bought some shares in 1987 in physical form. Shah went to Dubai for a long time and his stocks recently went to the Investors’ Education and Protection Fund (IEPF). Shah returned to India and during the current bull run, the value of his portfolio reached Rs 30 lakh. He then completed the formalities and got his shares back from the IEPF. A person in Bhavnagar, making a monthly salary of about Rs 15,000, recently found old physical shares bought by his father 35 years ago. These are valued at around Rs 40 lakh now. There are more such cases. Gunjan Choksi, director of a stockbroking firm, said, “Gujarat has been a leading state for equity investments for more than 100 years. There are still many shareholders who have physical shares. The stock market has seen a bullish trend, and many stocks are at new highs, so there are increased inquiries from holders of physical shares about getting their stocks in demat form. According to the rules, if the dividend is unclaimed for seven years, companies submit the dividend and shares to IEPF and the original shareholders will need to claim them from IEPF.” Investors in other districts also are getting their physical shares changed to demat format. Vishal Shah, a Bhavnagar-based stockbroker, said, “There are multiple reasons for people still having physical shares. There are some investors who kept physical shares only because they did not want to convert them into demat form. There are cases where a family changed their residence and stopped getting letters from the company and forgot about the shares after the death of the shareholder or did not prioritize the dematerialization due to other work. We have received several inquiries from such families who want details about their stock valuations.” One source said, “Many families have physical shares because there are legal issues after the death of the shareholder. In many cases, KYC or signatures differing are why physical shares have not been converted. If a shareholder has passed away, the family must complete a court process to get the shares, which may be pending. If shares are placed with IEPF, agents charge between 5% and 15% of the valuation to get the procedure carried out and it takes a long time.”
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