Shri Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, inaugurated the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) Help Line number - 1800-114-667 - and Call Centre here yesterday.

Speaking on the role of the new Help Line, the Secretary, MCA, said that in order to facilitate the investors with smooth information flow,  the step taken by IEPFA  to developed a Help Line (Call Centre Solution) with the help of CSC e-Gov SPV (Meity) will come a long way in speeding the process in addressing the queries of claimants. This is one major step taken by the government to address the concerns of various claimants.

Shri Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Gov, informed that CSC SPV will provide hosting and support/ maintenance/ training support for the application.

The Help Line will facilitate callers in tracking the status of their claims refund. Citizens can also report a suspicious claim on Help Line as also the newly revamped IEPF  portal at www.iepfportal.in, which is user-friendly interface for various stakeholder for gaining information about the initiatives taken by the Government in addressing the investor protection related issues. The application developed by CSC will also record and maintain calls received on various forms i.e. from Company and claimants.

The Help Line launch event was attended by Shri Rajib Sekhar Sahoo, Member, IEPF Authority, senior officials of IEPF Authority and CSC e-Governance.

IEPFA Background

The Government of India has established the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF Authority) under the provisions of Companies Act, 2013 to inter-alia promote investors’ education, awareness and protection apart from making refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits / debentures to the investors. IEPFA also strives to provide investors with requisite knowledge and skills pertaining to investor education and protection.

Investor protection strengthened by new helpline for tracking claims and reporting suspicious investor claims via call centre support. A dedicated Investor Protection helpline and call-centre solution, developed with CSC e-Gov SPV, enables claimants to track refund claim status, report suspicious claims, and provides hosting, support, maintenance and training; the application records and maintains calls and claim information. These operational measures support the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority's statutory mandate under the Companies Act to promote investor education and protection and to administer refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends and matured deposits/debentures.