Demat account closure

Steps to take if you hold delisted shares in demat | Mint

Re-materialisation will not go through if the firm doesn’t respond, which happens if it is involuntarily delisted

Three options seem to be available, to close the demat account, where the shares are either delisted or not traded regularly.

Where the delisting is voluntary

Sell in the off-market:

If the company delists voluntarily, the account holder will get one year time to approach the RTA (Registered Transfer Agent) and tender the shares through an offline process. The company will have to honour the delisting price. If the company has been delisted for over a year, the shareholder can approach the company and enter into a private negotiation to sell the shares back to the promoters. This will be an off-market transaction and the price will be determined between the buyer and seller

Re-materialise:

The account holder also has the option to re-materialise the shares by converting them from electronic to paper form. For this, they have to approach their DP (Depository Participant) with a re-materialisation request for each of the company they hold a share of. The ICICIdirect spokesperson said this is a long drawn process and can take about 4-6 weeks, depending on the company

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Where the delisting is involuntary:

Gift/transfer :

For delisted securites, the customer can transfer the balance to a different demat account using a delivery instruction slip.

The same procedure is to be followed for listed shares with thin trading volumes, making it difficult for the investor to sell them. “The investor will have to keep trying online to sell them. Alternatively, they can gift those shares or transfer the balance to another demat account,