Q.What is the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)? State the amounts credited to it and the purposes for which it is utilised.

The IEPF is the final resting place for long-unclaimed corporate money, created specifically to protect and educate investors.

Meaning of the IEPF: the Investor Education and Protection Fund is a fund established by the Central Government under Section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013, to safeguard the interests of investors and to hold, on a long-term basis, corporate money that genuine owners have failed to claim for many years.

Amounts credited to the IEPF include:

• Amounts in a company's Unpaid Dividend Account remaining unclaimed for 7 consecutive years, transferred under Section 124, along with the shares on which such dividend remained unclaimed (Section 124(6)).
• Application money received for allotment of securities and due for refund, remaining unpaid for 7 years.
• Matured deposits and matured debentures with companies, remaining unclaimed for 7 years.
• The interest accrued on all of the above unclaimed amounts.
• Grants and donations given to the Fund by the Central/State Governments, companies, or any other institution.
• Interest or other income earned out of investments made from the Fund.

Purposes for which the IEPF is utilised:

• Refund, through the IEPF Authority, of unclaimed dividends, matured deposits, matured debentures, and application money to claimants who later come forward and prove their entitlement.
• Promotion of investor education, awareness, and protection of investors' interests. …