Indemnity Bond for IEPF Form 5: Format, Stamp Duty and How to Fill It

If you are filing a claim to recover your shares or dividends from the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), there is one document where most claims quietly go wrong: the indemnity bond. Get the stamp paper value, the wording, or the witnesses incorrect, and the whole claim is sent back, adding months to an already slow process.

This guide explains exactly what the indemnity bond is, how you get it, what the format looks like field by field, the stamp paper value required in each state, how to fill and execute it correctly, and the common mistakes that cause rejection. If you would rather not risk it, you can also start your IEPF share recovery with us and we will handle the entire claim, including the bond.

What Is the Indemnity Bond in IEPF Form 5?

The indemnity bond is a legal undertaking you give to the IEPF Authority (IEPFA), promising to indemnify (protect) the Authority and the company against any loss or dispute that may arise after your claim is settled. In plain terms, it confirms that you are the rightful claimant and that the details you have submitted are true.

When you submit Form IEPF-5 on the MCA portal, the system auto-generates the indemnity bond as part of your claim package. You then download it, print it on the correct stamp paper, sign it, have it witnessed and notarised, and courier it, along with the rest of your documents, to the company's Nodal Officer.

So the bond itself is system-generated, but executing it correctly is entirely your responsibility, and that is where claims most often fail.

How to Get and Download the Indemnity Bond

You do not draft the indemnity bond from scratch. It is produced when you file IEPF-5. The steps are:

• File Form IEPF-5 on the MCA / IEPF portal and submit it.
• After submission, an acknowledgement (SRN) is generated.
• Download the auto-generated indemnity bond, along with the acknowledgement, from the portal.
• Print the bond on non-judicial stamp paper of the correct value for your state.
• Fill in the blanks, sign, and have it witnessed and notarised.
• Send the physical bond with your other documents to the company's Nodal Officer.

If you have not yet confirmed that your holding is actually with the IEPF, start with our guide to IEPF unclaimed shares and how to search for them, which covers the search and the full IEPF-5 sequence this bond forms part of.

IEPF Indemnity Bond Format: What the Document Looks Like

People searching for an indemnity bond sample usually want to know one thing before they start: what am I actually going to be signing? The bond the MCA portal generates for your claim follows a fixed structure. Below is that structure, with the variable parts shown as blanks, so you know what to expect and what information you will need to hand.

Because the bond is auto-generated with your own claim details, always execute the version produced for your IEPF-5 rather than a template downloaded elsewhere. A generic sample will typically carry the wrong wording, omit the SRN, or miss details specific to your case, and the Nodal Officer will return it.

Field-by-Field: What Goes in Each Blank

State-Wise Stamp Paper Value for the IEPF Indemnity Bond

This is where most people get stuck, because the required stamp paper value depends on your state and, in some cases, on what you are claiming. As a general rule, a claim for only a small dividend amount may need only plain or low-value paper, while a claim involving shares (with or without dividend) requires non-judicial stamp paper of the value set by your state. The table below sets out the fixed non-judicial stamp paper value for an indemnity bond across major states, along with how the stamp paper is typically procured in each.

Stamp duty is set by each state and can change from time to time, as the recent Karnataka revision shows. If you are unsure of the current value for your state, or your state is not listed above, we confirm it as part of handling your claim.

When Plain Paper Is Allowed: The ₹10,000 Rule

There is one exception to buying stamp paper at all, and it is narrower than most people assume. The official IEPF Authority FAQ on Form IEPF-5 sets it out directly:

Read the wording carefully, because the trap is in the phrase “and/or market value of shares”. The plain-paper concession applies only to a claim for an amount alone, of ₹10,000 or less. The moment your claim includes shares — at any value — you need non-judicial stamp paper of the value your state prescribes. Most claimants reading this page are claiming shares, which means the concession does not apply to them.

One point of attribution, because it affects how much weight to give it: this threshold appears in the IEPF-5 instruction kit and the Authority’s FAQ material, not in the bare text of the IEPF Rules, 2016. The Rules require that an indemnity bond accompany the claim; the ₹10,000 cut-off comes from the form’s official help documentation. It is authoritative for filing purposes, and every major registrar restates it, but cite it as the instruction kit rather than as the Rules.

Treat the table above as indicative. Stamp duty is set by each State Stamp Act, not by the IEPF Authority, and the Authority publishes no per-state schedule. The rates do move — Karnataka went from ₹200 to ₹500 by a 2023 amendment effective February 2024, and Tamil Nadu fixed ₹200 in its May 2024 revision. Confirm the current value under your own State Stamp Act before you buy the paper, and buy it in the claimant’s name.

How to Fill the Indemnity Bond, Step by Step

Once the bond is printed on the correct stamp paper:

• Claimant details: enter your full name and address exactly as they should appear on the claim, matching your other documents.
• Details of the securities or dividend: fill in the shares and/or dividend amount being claimed, as per your IEPF-5.
• Signatures: all claimants must sign. For joint holders, every holder signs.
• Witnesses: the bond must be witnessed. Enter each witness's full name and address.
• Notarisation: get the bond notarised as required.

Fill it in exactly. Even a name that does not match your share certificate can cause the claim to be returned.

Surety Affidavit for IEPF-5

Along with the indemnity bond, certain claims also require a surety affidavit, a supporting declaration that is typically executed on stamp paper and notarised. Whether it is needed, and in what form, depends on your specific claim, for example higher-value claims or certain deceased-holder cases. Submitting the bond without a required surety affidavit is a common reason for a claim being held up.

When a Surety Affidavit Is Actually Required

A surety affidavit is not part of an ordinary claim. It is required mainly in two situations: where the original share certificate has been lost, and in certain transmission or deceased-holder cases. If you are claiming a straightforward dividend amount, you will not need one.

Where it does apply, the requirement that surprises people is the value. The surety affidavit is pegged to the market value of the securities as on the date of execution — not to a nominal amount, and not to what the shares were worth when they were bought. For a holding that has appreciated over thirty years, that figure can be substantial, and it determines the stamp paper you need.

The affidavit itself records the surety’s particulars and identity, states that the surety knows the claimant, confirms the value against the securities, and undertakes to make good any loss to the company or the Authority. It is then notarised, with the Notary Public’s name, full address and seal on the document.

The Advance Stamped Receipt: The Document That Quietly Fails Claims

Alongside the indemnity bond, your claim package includes an advance stamped receipt — Annexure I of the IEPF-5 instruction kit. It is your acknowledgement, signed in advance, that you have received the amount or the shares from the IEPF Authority. It is short, it looks trivial, and it is one of the more common reasons a physical set comes back.

The receipt records the sum and the number of shares being claimed, the nature of the payment (dividend on equity or preference shares, matured deposits or debentures, application money, interest), and the company the holding originally came from. Then come the parts that get missed:

• A ₹1 revenue stamp must be affixed to the receipt.
• Your signature must be crossed over the revenue stamp — running across the stamp and onto the paper, not beside it. The instruction kit specifically warns that failing to do this delays processing.
• Two witnesses must sign, each giving signature, date, full name and address.

A revenue stamp is not the same thing as a postage stamp, and it is not the same thing as the non-judicial stamp paper the indemnity bond is printed on. It is a small adhesive stamp bought at a post office or stationer. People routinely affix nothing, affix the wrong thing, or sign neatly next to the stamp instead of across it — and the set is returned for something that costs one rupee to fix.

Complete Document Checklist for IEPF-5

The indemnity bond never travels alone. After you file Form IEPF-5 online and the SRN is generated, a physical set has to reach the company’s Nodal Officer, in an envelope marked “Claim for refund from IEPF Authority”. This is the full set, and what each item has to carry.

Online, the MCA V3 form takes its own attachments — Aadhaar, Passport/OCI/PIO, Client Master List or transaction statement, proof of entitlement, bank cheque copy, and up to two files under “Others”. Each must be a PDF or JPG of no more than 2MB, which is worth knowing before you scan a thirty-year-old certificate at full resolution.

Uploading a document online does not remove the need to send the physical original where one is required. The online attachment and the posted set are two separate obligations, and claims stall when people treat the upload as the end of the job.

Common Reasons the Indemnity Bond Gets Rejected

Even a genuine claim can be returned over the bond. Before you send it, check every one of these.

Any one of these means the Nodal Officer returns your claim, and you begin the physical submission again, often losing weeks or months.

Special Cases: Deceased Holder, NRI and Joint Holders

The indemnity bond becomes significantly more complex when the shareholder has died, when the claimant is an NRI, or when there are joint holders.

Where the shareholder has passed away, the claim becomes a transmission of shares matter, requiring succession or legal-heir documentation alongside the bond, which must then be executed by the legal heir or heirs. For NRIs, execution, notarisation and attestation from outside India follow additional rules. And where there are joint holders, all holders, or their legal heirs, must be accounted for correctly. In these cases the indemnity bond is rarely the hardest part; the surrounding documentation is, and mistakes are both more likely and more costly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a standard indemnity bond format for IEPF Form 5?
Yes. The MCA portal generates the bond in a fixed format once you submit Form IEPF-5, pre-filled with your claim details. The structure is shown above. You should execute the version generated for your own SRN rather than a template downloaded from elsewhere, because a generic sample usually carries the wrong wording or omits your SRN.

Can I download the IEPF indemnity bond in Word or PDF format?
The bond is downloaded as part of your claim package from the MCA / IEPF portal after IEPF-5 is submitted, not as a blank editable template. You print that document on the correct stamp paper and complete it by hand.

What stamp paper value is needed for an IEPF indemnity bond?
It depends on your state. Common values are ₹100 in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and West Bengal, ₹200 in Tamil Nadu, ₹500 in Maharashtra and Karnataka, and ₹1,000 in Madhya Pradesh. See the state-wise table above, and confirm the current value before purchasing, as states revise these.

Does the indemnity bond have to be notarised?
Notarisation is required for most claims involving shares. Where it is required and the bond is submitted without it, the Nodal Officer returns the claim.

How many witnesses does the bond need, and who can be a witness?
The bond must be witnessed, with each witness giving their full name and complete address alongside their signature. A signature without name and address entered is one of the more common reasons bonds come back.

Who signs the bond if the shares are held jointly?
Every joint holder must sign. Where a holder has died, the legal heir or heirs sign in their place, and succession documentation has to accompany the bond.

Is a surety needed on the IEPF indemnity bond?
Certain claims also require a surety affidavit executed on stamp paper and notarised, depending on the value of the claim and whether it is a deceased-holder case. Submitting the bond without a required surety affidavit will hold up the claim.

What happens if the indemnity bond is rejected?
The Nodal Officer returns the physical set, and you correct the defect and dispatch it again. The online SRN generally stands, but the physical submission and the postal receipt update start over, which is what turns a small error into months of delay.

How Does Shares Recover Help With Your IEPF Claim?

The indemnity bond is just one document in a claim where a single error means rejection and a re-filing delay. Shares Recover manages the entire IEPF-5 claim on your behalf, reviewing your case, preparing and vetting the required documents, including the indemnity bond, surety affidavit and any legal-heir paperwork, and liaising directly with the company, its RTA, and the IEPF Authority until your shares are recovered. The fee structure is success-based, with zero upfront payment: there is no token fee and no consultation fee, and our success fee falls due only once the shares are credited to your demat account.

We cross-check your holding against our own database and the IEPF records, and come back to you with what we find and the exact path to recover it. This applies whether you are based in India or are an NRI managing the process from overseas.

If you would like us to take the risk of a rejected bond off your hands, request a free check of your shares and we will handle the rest.

Related reading: if you have not yet confirmed the holding, see IEPF unclaimed shares: how to search, check and recover them. For the official portals and what to do when they will not open, see the IEPF portal login guide.