Dividend declaration and payment rules require distributable profits, compliance checks, priority rights, and transfer of unpaid amounts to the fund. Secretarial Standard-3 sets out recommendatory principles for declaration, payment, entitlement, abeyance, transfer, disclosure and preservation of dividend. Dividend may be declared only from distributable profits or, in limited cases, free reserves, subject to loss set-off, depreciation and specified compliance conditions; it cannot be declared where deposit, debenture, preference share, dividend or term-loan defaults subsist, or from prohibited reserve accounts. Final dividend requires Board recommendation and members' approval at an annual general meeting, while interim dividend is declared by the Board. The Standard also governs unpaid dividend, transfer to the Investor Education and Protection Fund, preservation of instruments and listed company disclosures.