Lost or Damaged Share Certificates — Issue of Duplicates
A missing certificate is a missing piece of paper, not a missing shareholding. Your ownership is recorded in the company's register, and the certificate can be replaced.
What replaces a lost certificate today
Companies no longer issue a fresh physical certificate in these cases. Instead, the Registrar issues a Letter of Confirmation — a document confirming your holding, which you then use to have the shares credited to your demat account. The letter is valid for a limited period (commonly 120 days) and must be acted on within that window, so the demat request should be ready to submit as soon as it arrives.
This is why “get a duplicate certificate” and “dematerialise the holding” are really one project. If the Letter of Confirmation lapses unused, the whole exercise has to be repeated. We plan both steps together from the start.
The process, step by step
- Intimate the loss to the company's Registrar and have the folio flagged, so the shares cannot be transferred by anyone else in the meantime.
- Lodge a police complaint or FIR recording the loss of the certificates, with distinctive numbers, folio number and the number of shares.
- Publish a newspaper advertisement in the prescribed form, inviting objections. Depending on the value of the holding, this may be required in a widely circulated national daily and a regional-language paper.
- Execute an affidavit and indemnity bond on appropriate stamp paper, properly notarised.
- Submit the request (Form ISR-4 and supporting documents) to the Registrar with your KYC and demat details.
- Receive the Letter of Confirmation and immediately lodge the dematerialisation request through your depository participant.
For holdings below a prescribed value, SEBI permits a lighter route where the FIR and advertisement may be substituted by a self-declaration and indemnity. The applicable threshold and the exact documents differ by Registrar, so we confirm the requirement before you spend money on advertisements or stamp paper.
Damaged, defaced or partially destroyed certificates
If you still hold the certificate but it is torn, water-damaged, insect-eaten or has faded beyond legibility, the process is considerably simpler — the mutilated certificate is surrendered and no FIR or advertisement is normally required. Do not attempt to repair, laminate or tape a damaged certificate; send us clear photographs first and keep the original exactly as it is.
Documents usually required
Every Registrar has its own preferences, so treat this as an indicative list. We confirm the exact set for your company and case before you have anything notarised or stamped.
- Copy of the FIR or police complaint recording the loss
- Certificate details: folio number, distinctive numbers and number of shares, if known
- PAN, Aadhaar and address proof of the holder
- Affidavit and indemnity bond on stamp paper (drafted by us, notarised by you)
- Newspaper advertisement copy, where required
- Client Master List of the demat account and a cancelled cheque
A note on originals. Never post original certificates or succession documents to anyone without a written acknowledgement and tracked courier. Where the process allows, we work from certified copies and only move originals at the point they are genuinely required.
Duplicate Share Certificates — FAQs
Not sure whether you have anything to claim?
Send us the names and we will check the records for you — free, and with no obligation to proceed.