Bonus shares not reflected in your demat account: what to check

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

The direct answer: if you held the shares on the record date, the bonus shares belong to you, and since October 2024 SEBI requires them to be credited to your demat account and made tradeable within two working days of the record date. If the credit has not come, first confirm you actually held the shares in your own demat account on the record date. Then check your transaction statement, because the credit appears as a separate corporate-action entry, sometimes under a temporary ISIN. If it is genuinely missing, write to the company's registrar and transfer agent (RTA), and escalate on SEBI SCORES if the RTA does not fix it.

A bonus issue runs on dates, and most “missing bonus” complaints dissolve once the dates are read correctly.

• Record date: the company checks the depository records (NSDL and CDSL) at the end of this day. Whoever holds the shares then gets the bonus. Under the T+1 settlement regime the ex-date and record date generally fall on the same day, so shares bought on the ex-date itself do not qualify.
• Deemed allotment date: the next working day after the record date.
• Credit and trading date: within two working days of the record date under SEBI's September 2024 circular on bonus issue timelines. Before that circular, credits routinely took two weeks; that old expectation still causes panic.

So the honest first question is: did you own the shares, settled in your demat, on the record date? Shares bought one day before the record date under T+1 normally settle in time. Shares lying with the broker in a pool account, pledged shares being invoked, or shares in transit can complicate the snapshot.

1. Open the demat transaction statement (not just holdings) for the week after the record date, on the NSDL or CDSL app, in the IDeAS or Easi portal, or in your broker app. Corporate-action credits sometimes do not trigger an SMS.
2. Check for a separate line with a different ISIN. Bonus shares can sit under a temporary ISIN until listing approval, after which they merge with the main holding.
3. Check the consolidated account statement (CAS) emailed monthly by the depository. It lists the bonus credit with the date.
4. If you hold through more than one demat account, confirm which account held the shares on the record date. The bonus goes to that account.
5. Fractional entitlement is not credited as shares. In a 1:2 bonus with 15 shares held, you get 7 shares, and the fraction is sold by the company and paid to you in cash. Check your bank statement for that credit.

The depositories only mirror what the company allots. The allotment file is built by the company's RTA, usually KFin Technologies or MUFG Intime (formerly Link Intime). Mismatches in the demat ID, a frozen account, or unresolved KYC can push your entitlement into the company's escrow or suspense account instead of your demat.

Write to the RTA's investor service email (listed on the company's website under “Investor Contacts” and in the stock exchange announcement of the bonus). Give your name, PAN, DP ID and client ID, the number of shares held on the record date, and a demat holding statement of the record date as proof. Ask three questions: was your entitlement included in the allotment, to which demat ID was it credited, and if it is lying in suspense, what is needed to release it. Copy the company secretary of the company. RTAs are required to resolve investor service requests within defined timelines, and a precise email with the holding proof usually gets the credit released in days.

If you still hold the original shares in physical form, note that bonus entitlements are now issued only in demat form. You will need to open a demat account and complete the RTA's KYC process before the suspense shares can be released.

1. RTA and company: written request with holding proof. Allow 21 days.
2. SEBI SCORES: lodge a complaint at scores.sebi.gov.in against the company or RTA. Under SCORES 2.0 the entity must submit an action taken report within 21 days, and you can seek review if dissatisfied.
3. SMART ODR: if SCORES does not resolve it, the securities market online dispute resolution portal at smartodr.in offers conciliation and arbitration against listed companies and intermediaries.
4. Depository grievance: if the company says it credited the shares but your DP shows nothing, complain to your broker or DP, then to NSDL or CDSL investor grievance cells.

Keep the same evidence bundle throughout: record-date holding statement, transaction statement, the bonus announcement, and the RTA correspondence.

Listed companies, RTAs, brokers and the depositories are not public authorities, so RTI does not reach them. SEBI is a public authority. If your SCORES complaint stalls, you can file RTI with SEBI's CPIO for the status of action taken on your complaint number. That is the narrow, legitimate use. Drafting an RTI as a grievance against the company will be rejected. See how to file RTI online and why RTI gets rejected before filing.

• Broker ledger does not match your contract notes
• Bank refuses details of a share lien order
• Bank refuses to register a dispute

The full list is at all practical guides.

Because under T+1 settlement the ex-date and record date usually coincide, your purchase settles a day after the snapshot. The seller, who held the shares on the record date, gets the bonus. The lower ex-date price already reflects this.

No. After a bonus, the market price adjusts to the enlarged share count. If the bonus credit itself is delayed, your portfolio value looks halved for a day or two. Check the transaction statement before assuming a loss.

They may be under a temporary ISIN pending listing approval, or in lock-in for credit confirmation. Under the 2024 timeline this window is short, two working days from the record date. Ask your broker for the ISIN status if it persists.

Ask the RTA in writing what triggered it, usually a demat mismatch or KYC gap, and complete the listed formalities. The shares remain yours and are released once the records match. Escalate on SCORES if the RTA delays after you comply.

No. Bonus entitlements are issued in demat only. Open a demat account, complete KYC with the RTA, and have the entitlement credited there.

Bonus shares have a cost of zero for shares allotted after the grandfathering rules, and the holding period starts from allotment. Keep the allotment advice for capital gains computation when you sell. Take tax advice for large holdings.

Download the bonus shares credit checklist (PDF).