SEBI Offers Last Opportunity To Re-lodge Old Physical Share Transfers, Opens Special 6-Month Window

Moneylife Digital Team 03 July 2025

Investor Interest

In a significant relief for investors who had earlier missed the deadline to re-lodge their physical share transfer requests, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced a special six-month window to allow re-submission of such cases. The window will be open from 7 July 2025 to 6 January 2026, and is aimed at enhancing the ease of investment and safeguarding investor rights.

As per the SEBI circular, the window is applicable to transfer deeds originally lodged before 1 April 2019 but were rejected, returned or left unattended due to deficiencies in documentation, process issues or other lapses. These shares can now be re-lodged during the specified period, but the transfer will be processed only in dematerialised (demat) form.

SEBI had earlier discontinued the transfer of securities in physical form from 1 April 2019. However, a limited relaxation was granted to investors whose transfer requests were submitted before the cut-off date but returned due to document-related issues, allowing them to re-lodge the deeds by 31 March 2021. That window is long closed, and the new circular comes in response to persistent requests from investors, registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) and listed companies who cited cases where investors had inadvertently missed the previous deadline.

Following discussions within a SEBI-appointed expert panel, which included legal experts, RTAs, and listed company representatives, the regulator has now decided to provide one final opportunity to investors affected by the earlier rejection of their requests.

The circular instructs listed companies, RTAs and stock exchanges to publicise this special window widely through print and social media during the entire six-month period. Further, SEBI has mandated the formation of dedicated teams at RTAs and listed companies to ensure the timely processing of such transfer-cum-demat requests.

In addition, SEBI has asked RTAs and listed companies to submit monthly reports detailing publicity efforts, the number of shares re-lodged, processed and approved, reasons for rejections and average processing timelines. This reporting framework is intended to ensure accountability and smooth execution of the transfer process.

The move is being seen as part of SEBI’s broader investor-centric approach, particularly for legacy investors who had invested in physical shares prior to the demat era and faced hurdles due to documentation errors or procedural delays. Investors who qualify for this window must ensure that their re-lodgement is completed within the stipulated timeline and in accordance with SEBI's procedural norms.

SEBI has also reiterated that this is a one-time opportunity and investors who fail to utilise this special window may not get another chance in future. As such, investors holding old rejected transfer deeds are encouraged to act promptly to secure rightful ownership of their securities through this demat-enabled re-lodgement process.

Comments

User

r_ashok41

7 months ago

It should be made clear by sebi regarding the process as how to take it forward

sakhalkars66

7 months ago

Good article.
Good decision, which office We have to lodge shares.

sureshjthadani

7 months ago

does one have to have the old green transfer deeds when submitting these shares to the RTA . what needs to be submitted

r_ashok41

8 months ago

I feel it should always be available and not give some special window open for a limited time since people may not be even knowing it is open and lot of people might not be in the country or alive and their kith and kin may not be knowing the same .