Understanding the Demat Request Form (DRF)

The addition of 2.5 crore Demat accounts in India in FY23 showed the increasing popularity of investing in securities. A dematerialisation account, also known as a Demat account, allows you to hold securities and shares in a dematerialised or electronic form. 

This eliminates the need to store physical share certificates, which can be difficult and expensive to maintain. As per the directive by SEBI, physical shares will no longer hold value after September 30, 2023. 

So, if you hold physical shares, ensure you complete the KYC process before this date. Electronic conversion helps make buying and selling more convenient and easier to track. To go about this process, you will need to fill out a demat request form (DRF).

To learn about the dematerialisation request form, the process of filling the DRF, and more, read on.

To transfer physical certificates of the securities you hold into an electronic balance or dematerialised form, you will need a demat request form. This form serves as a request to the Depository Participant (DP) or a demat broker to dematerialise your securities. 

The DRF contains essential information like:

• Your name and DP identification number

• Type of security to be dematerialised

• Details of the securities such as folio and certificate numbers 

• Quantities of the securities to be dematerialised

• Face value and lock-in details, if applicable 

• Your signature 

• DP’s authorisation stamp, date, and signature 

Here are the steps that you need to follow to fill out a DRF. You can get access to this form from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), which is a depository. 

• Step 1: Fill in the date and your Client ID 

• Step 2: Add the name of the first, second and third holder

• Step 3: Enter the company name, type of security, and its face value

• Step 4: Enter the quantity of securities to be dematerialised in both figures and words

• Step 5: Choose from free securities or locked-in securities  

• Step 6: Add the 12-digit International Securities Identification Number (ISIN)

• Step 7: Enter the Certificate number and Distinctive number, which you can get on the share certificate, folio number and quantities 

• Step 8: Add the total number of certificates and details related to the securities locked in, which includes the reason and date of release

• Step 9: Check the information that you have added to the DRF, alongside the signatures of all account holders  

• Step 10: The DP then needs to fill out other details under the section, ‘Participant Authorisation’ and ‘Acknowledgement’ and the DRN on the top of the DRF

   

Once all this is done, you will get an acknowledgement slip from the DP. Ensure that when you submit the DRF, you also hand over the physical certificates. Write ‘Surrendered For Dematerialisation’ across each of them before you do so.