Claiming unclaimed amount on your investments

If you are constantly relocating due to your job or you have changed your residence due to any other reason, you may have missed out on dividend payments of your shares or mutual funds or redemption amount of your mutual fund investment. This can happen if you fail to update your residential address in the records of mutual fund houses (i.e. AMCs) or companies in which you have invested or in the records of their registrars and transfer agents (RTAs). If the dividend warrants or the redemption cheques could not be delivered to you due to your absence at the address that is in the records of company or the mutual fund house, then the warrant or the cheque would be returned to the company or the MF house or their RTAs.

Now, if you have missed out on any of such dividends or redemption payments, you need to contact the AMC or the company or their RTAs and ask for reissue of the warrant or cheque in your favour. There is no time limit to claim such unclaimed money, but you would be entitled to receive interest on the unclaimed amount only for three years after the amount became due for payment. After three years, you would get only the unclaimed money and the interest on it for the initial three years.

Now, if you are not sure whether there is any of your unclaimed money lying with any of the companies or AMCs, you can enquire about the same with the company’s RTA or, in the case of an AMC, you can visit the website of the respective AMC or the website of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) to get the required information.