Lok Sabha Question No. 1699 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-13
Subject: Fund with IEPFA
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Karti P. Chidambaram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1699 ANSWERED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023/ MAGHA 24, 1944 (SAKA)

## FUND WITH IEPFA QUESTION

1699. SHRI KARTI P. CHIDAMBARAM:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  total  balance  fund  including  value  of  unclaimed  shares  in  the  Investor Education Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) for financial years starting FY 2016-17, as well as provisional data for current FY, year-wise;
- (b) the  total  number  of  claims  filed,  claims  approved  and  total  number  of  shares returned to investors for each FY during the said period, year-wise;
- (c) the average time period in which claims are approved (from receipt of Verification Report from a company) in each FY during the said period, year-wise;
- (d) the average time period in which shares are released (from approval of claim to credit in Demat account of investor) in each FY during the said period, year-wise;
- (e) the number of grievances including RTIs received with respect to IEPFA during the said period, year-wise; and
- (f) the total interest accrued on IEPFA fund balance maintained with the Government/Consolidated Fund of India during the said period, year-wise?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY  OF  PLANNING  AND  MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  CORPORATE AFFAIRS.                                                                                                (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a): As per information provided by IEPFA, details are as under: -

| Financial Year                                                          | 2016-17   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2022-23#   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------|
| Total Balance amount in the IEPF at the end of the year (in Rs. crores) | 1,673.20  | 2,016.72  | 2,423.19  | 4,310.36  | 4,816.03  | 5,262.25  | 5,675.25   |

#The data is provisional upto 31.01.2023.

The valuation of shares fluctuates as per market situation.

Contd…2/ -

(b): As per information provided by IEPFA, details are as under: -

| Financial Year                                | 2016- 17   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   | 2022-23##   |
|-----------------------------------------------|------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Total no. of claims filed                     | 343        | 4,026     | 19,188    | 16,166    | 14,032    | 28,647    | 30,317      |
| Total no. of claims approved                  | NIL        | 155       | 712       | 6,989     | 7,262     | 10,472    | 8,216       |
| Total no. of shares returned to the investors | NIL*       | NIL*      | 5,00,771  | 58,36,768 | 37,72,666 | 61,21,291 | 66,94,007   |

(c):  As  per  information  provided  by  IEPFA,  the  claims  are  processed  in  the  IEPFA based upon the verification report provided by the company. Earlier the process of submission of verification report by companies was physical and hence, timelines prescribed under the rules could not be monitored or enforced. For the e-verification reports submitted by companies after the process reengineering in MCA 21 and as per the data made available by MCA 21 Service Provider, the average time period in which the claims are approved is as under: -

| Financial Year                     |   Average Approval Days |
|------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| 2019-20                            |                  174.5  |
| 2020-21                            |                  220.86 |
| 2021-22                            |                  179.36 |
| 2022-23 (Approved till 31.01.2023) |                   56.32 |

(d): The process of transfer of shares is not under the MCA-21 system and is done separately, therefore record of the time taken is not maintained.

Contd… 3/-

- 3 -(e):  Details  of  the  number  of  grievances  including  RTIs  received  with  respect  to IEPFA during the said period, year-wise, are as under: -

|   S. No. | Financial Year   | RTI   | CPGRAM   |
|----------|------------------|-------|----------|
|        1 | 2016-17 24       | 04    |          |
|        2 | 2017-18 18       |       | 45       |
|        3 | 2018-19          | 86    | 183      |
|        4 | 2019-20          | 287   | 335      |
|        5 | 2020-21          | 385   | 543      |
|        6 | 2021-22          | 693   | 1282     |
|        7 | 2022-23 ****     | 635   | 1566     |

**** The data is provisional upto 31.01.2023.

(f): NIL. As per Sub-Rule 3(4a) of IEPF (AATR) Rules, "All the money, which accrue under  sub  section  (2)  of  section  125  of  the  Act  shall  be  deposited  in  the Consolidated  Fund  of  India  under  the  Major  Head  '0075 -Miscellaneous  General Services -104 -Unclaimed a nd Unpaid dividends, deposits and debentures etc.'. Such sums along with amount deposited under section 205C of the Companies Act, 1956 shall be transferred to the Fund in the non-interest-bearing Public Account after  taking  due  approval  of  Parliament  through  Appropriation  Act.  This  noninterest-bearing Public Account shall be termed as IEPF Fund and shall be utilised for the purposes provided under sub-section (3) of section 125 of the Act ' . Hence no interest has been accrued to IEPF Fund balance.

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