Orient Cement Limited has submitted a regulatory filing pursuant to Regulation 30 of SEBI Listing Regulations, enclosing a specimen copy of a notice sent to shareholders regarding the compulsory transfer of equity shares to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF).
The notice informs shareholders that unclaimed dividends for seven consecutive years or more will result in the underlying shares being transferred to IEPF as per Section 124(6) of the Companies Act, 2013 and Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (Accounting, Audit, Transfer and Refund) Rules, 2016.
Affected Dividend Periods
The following dividend payments from financial years 2017-18 to 2023-24 have remained unpaid/unclaimed and are subject to share transfer to IEPF:
- Final Dividend 2017-18
- Final Dividend 2018-19
- Final Dividend 2019-20
- Interim Dividend 2020-21
- Final Dividend 2020-21
- Interim Dividend 2021-22
- Final Dividend 2021-22
- Interim Dividend 2022-23
- Final Dividend 2022-23
- Interim Dividend 2023-24
- Final Dividend 2023-24
Claim Deadline
Shareholders must submit applications to claim unpaid/unclaimed dividends by August 20, 2026. Applications should be sent to the company's Registrar and Share Transfer Agent, KFin Technologies Limited, via speed post, courier, or email (scanned signed letter with original to follow by post).
Consequences of Non-Claim
If shares are not claimed by the deadline, they will be transferred to the IEPF Demat Account according to Ministry of Corporate Affairs procedures. For physical share holders, original certificates will be automatically cancelled and deemed non-negotiable. For demat holders, the company will initiate corporate action for transfer to IEPF account.
Post-Transfer Claim Process
Shareholders can later claim both unclaimed dividend amounts and transferred shares from the IEPF Authority by submitting Form IEPF-5 online and sending physical copies to the company or KFin Technologies for verification. Claims for dividends declared after final dividend 2017 should be made directly with the company, not the IEPF Authority.