Sebi Announces Opening Of 6 Month Window For Re-Lodging Requests For Transfer of Physical Shares

Sebi Transfer of Physical Shares: The capital market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular dated July 2 that it will give shareholders an opportunity to re-lodge requests for the transfer of physical shares. The move is aimed at facilitating the ease of investing and for securing the rights of existing investors who have shares held in the physical form. The window to submit requests for transfer of physical shares will remain open from July 7, 2025 to January 06, 2026.

“...it has been decided to open a special window only for re-lodgement of transfer deeds, which were lodged prior to the deadline of April 01, 2019 and rejected/returned/not attended to due to deficiency in the documents/process/or otherwise,for aperiod of six months from July 07, 2025 till January 06, 2026,” Sebi said in the circular.

In a bid to shift all investors to the dematerialised mode of holding shares, the market regulator discontinued the transfer of physical shares on April 01, 2019. Once the transfer process for physical shares was discontinued in 2019, investors were provided time till March 31, 2021 to lodge requests for initiating transfer of shares again. Notably the extended deadline was only applicable for those share transfer requests which were made prior to the April 01, 2019 deadline and were rejected or returned due to a lack of requisite documents.

However the market regulator received representation from several stakeholders of the investing ecosystem such as investors and RTAs (Registrar and Transfer Agents) who said that some investors had missed the May 31, 2021 deadline for re-lodging requests. The market regulator in turn consulted a panel of experts comprising of stakeholders such as listed companies and RTAs. Following the discussion between Sebi and the experts, it was decided that a new six month window will be opened to resolve the issue for investors.

The market regulator added that during the six-month window, investors who file transfer-cum-demat requests will receive shares only in demat form if the requests are approved and due process will be followed for such requests.

Sebi also urged listed companies, RTAs and stock exchanges to inform investors about the opening of the special window through various means such as print and social media on a bi-monthly basis for the next six months. The market regulator also directed RTAs and listed companies to create focussed teams to receive requests for share transfers. Additionally RTAs and listed companies have also been asked to provide reports for the shares re-lodged for transfer cum demat in the six month window.