India’s largest retail brokerage Zerodha has launched a dedicated initiative to assist investors in converting old physical share certificates into digital demat format, even if they are not Zerodha customers. The move comes amid rising concerns about stranded legacy investments, especially those inherited through family holdings.Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath announced the initiative on social media, stating that the company receives numerous queries from individuals who have stumbled upon physical share certificates belonging to their parents or grandparents.”We often hear stories from investors… discovering certificates that belonged to their parents or grandparents,” Kamath said.Today, Sebi no longer permits the transfer of physical shares, except in specific cases like inheritance or transmission. In 2019, Sebi mandated that shares held in physical form cannot be transferred unless they are dematerialised—making digital demat holdings a prerequisite for any sale, pledge, or legal transfer.Despite this regulation, lakhs of investors across India still possess physical shares, many of which were issued before the demat era began in 1996. These certificates, while legally valid, remain functionally obsolete unless converted.Zerodha’s new support program aims to make this transition easier. A dedicated team has been set up to guide investors—step by step—through the dematerialisation process, irrespective of whether they hold a Zerodha account. Investors can simply raise a ticket on Zerodha’s help portal to initiate assistance.This outreach is particularly relevant as India sees a growing wave of second-generation investors encountering legacy holdings, often unaware of the legal or procedural hurdles involved in reviving them.Zerodha’s gesture — extending free demat help to even non-customers—marks a rare example of service — driven financial outreach in India’s broking ecosystem, and could set a precedent for investor-first practices in the industry.
India’s largest retail brokerage Zerodha has launched a dedicated initiative to assist investors in converting old physical share certificates into digital demat format, even if they are not Zerodha customers. The move comes amid rising concerns about stranded legacy investments, especially those inherited through family holdings.Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath announced the initiative on social media, stating that the company receives numerous queries from individuals who have stumbled upon physical share certificates belonging to their parents or grandparents.”We often hear stories from investors… discovering certificates that belonged to their parents or grandparents,” Kamath said.Today, Sebi no longer permits the transfer of physical shares, except in specific cases like inheritance or transmission. In 2019, Sebi mandated that shares held in physical form cannot be transferred unless they are dematerialised—making digital demat holdings a prerequisite for any sale, pledge, or legal transfer.Despite this regulation, lakhs of investors across India still possess physical shares, many of which were issued before the demat era began in 1996. These certificates, while legally valid, remain functionally obsolete unless converted.Zerodha’s new support program aims to make this transition easier. A dedicated team has been set up to guide investors—step by step—through the dematerialisation process, irrespective of whether they hold a Zerodha account. Investors can simply raise a ticket on Zerodha’s help portal to initiate assistance.This outreach is particularly relevant as India sees a growing wave of second-generation investors encountering legacy holdings, often unaware of the legal or procedural hurdles involved in reviving them.Zerodha’s gesture — extending free demat help to even non-customers—marks a rare example of service — driven financial outreach in India’s broking ecosystem, and could set a precedent for investor-first practices in the industry. Economic Times
