Quick answer: Write to the Registrar and Transfer Agent for that company, not to the company itself, quoting the folio number from the certificate. Send the correction request with your PAN, Aadhaar, a cancelled cheque, the certificate details and an affidavit linking the two spellings. Get the name right first, because dematerialisation will not go through with a mismatch, and physical certificates cannot be sold until they are demated.
Most people find these in a cupboard rather than going looking for them, often after a parent has died or a house is being cleared. That is the usual way this page gets read.
At a Glance
| Who holds the register | An RTA, not the company |
| Find the RTA by | The company name and folio |
| Can you sell on paper? | No; they must be demated |
| What blocks demat | A name that does not match |
| So fix the name | First, before anything else |
| Unclaimed for years | Shares can move to the IEPF |
| Recovering from there | Possible, but a longer process |
| Gazette needed? | Only for a real name change |
Key Takeaways
- Paper shares cannot be sold; they have to be demated first.
- Demat needs the name to match PAN and the demat account.
- So the spelling is the blockage, not a detail.
- The register sits with an RTA, which is who to write to.
- Long-unclaimed holdings can be moved to a government fund.
What You Need: Quick Facts
| The certificate | Original, kept safely |
| Folio number | Printed on it |
| Company name | To identify the RTA |
| PAN | Non-negotiable here |
| Aadhaar | Identity and address |
| Cancelled cheque | Bank details for dividends |
| Affidavit | Linking the two spellings |
| Demat account | In the corrected name |
Table of Contents
- The last paper securities
- Why the name blocks everything
- The RTA, not the company
- Writing to them
- The seven-year clock
- When they were somebody else's
- Central Gazette: the complete process and file format
- Areas we serve
- Key terms
- Related guides
- Why choose our office
- FAQs
The Last Paper Securities
That is not a criticism of the change. Electronic holdings are safer and easier. It simply means anyone still holding paper has one job to do before anything else becomes possible.
Why the Name Blocks Everything
- Dematerialisation moves the holding into a demat account, which is opened against your PAN.
- The name on the certificate has to match that account, and matching is checked strictly rather than generously.
- A different spelling stops the request, so nothing further can happen until it is settled.
- Which makes this correction the first step, not a tidy-up to do afterwards.
- And it explains why old certificates sit untouched for decades: somebody tried once, hit the mismatch, and put them back in the cupboard.
The RTA, Not the Company
| People write to | Who actually holds the register |
|---|---|
| The company's head office | Its Registrar and Transfer Agent |
| A branch or a showroom | The RTA, again |
| An old address on the certificate | Possibly a former RTA |
| Nobody, because it seems hopeless | The RTA is findable in minutes |
Once you have the right RTA, the process is ordinary correspondence rather than anything exotic, which surprises people who expected paper shares to be a legal maze.
Writing to Them
Quote the folio number and company name
Those two identify the holding, and everything follows from them.
State both spellings plainly
What the certificate says, what your documents say, and that they are one person.
Attach PAN and Aadhaar
PAN is not optional in this area and is the anchor the whole thing rests on.
Attach the affidavit
Naming the folio and certificate numbers, so it is specific to this holding.
Attach a cancelled cheque
Because bank details are usually updated at the same time and unpaid dividends may be waiting.
Send it tracked and keep a full copy
These files travel between offices and a copy at home has saved many of them.
Ask about unclaimed dividends in the same letter. Certificates that have been forgotten usually have years of dividends sitting unclaimed against them.
The Seven-Year Clock
Families going through an estate should treat this as one of the first things to look at rather than one of the last, precisely because time is doing something in the background.
When They Were Somebody Else's
- Certificates found after a death are a transmission, not a correction, which is a different request with different documents.
- The death certificate and succession documents come into it, alongside whatever the RTA specifies for the value involved.
- Where the deceased's own name was misspelled, both things need handling, and the RTA will tell you the order.
- Joint holdings behave differently from single ones, so read the certificate for how it is held.
- And for anything contested, take legal advice rather than working it out from a webpage.
We are a documentation office and this is the point where an estate with any complexity needs a lawyer. What we can do is get the paperwork clean and identify who to write to.
Central Gazette: the Complete Process and File Format
Our core service: a spelling correction needs no publication. Where a name has genuinely changed, RTAs commonly ask for the gazette, and this is the route from Lucknow.
Stage 1: The affidavit
Quoting the PAN number inside point three is worth doing here and almost nowhere else on this site. In securities, PAN is the anchor identity, and an affidavit that names it is immediately checkable against the account the shares will move into.
Stage 2: The Public Notice, in two copies
Each witness gives signature, full name and address, and both sign both copies at one sitting.
Stage 3: The CD and CD-Certificate
Stage 4: Newspapers, fee, covering letter and dispatch
Publish in two newspapers and buy four copies
One Hindi daily of your district and one English paper, complete original pages.
Pay Rs 1,100 on BharatKosh
With the function head, PAO and DDO checked and two receipts printed.
Write the covering letter
To The Controller, Publication Department, Civil Line, Delhi 110054, with your mobile number and email.
Assemble, check and photocopy
A full copy set kept at home.
Courier it, tracked
One to three days from most UP districts.
Then PAN, then the RTA
Since PAN is the anchor for everything in securities.
Open the Cupboard This Month
This is the most concretely valuable suggestion on this whole site, and it costs an afternoon and some photocopying.
Gazette Fees, Time and the File
| RTA name correction | Their processing charge, usually modest |
| Affidavit | Rs 100 to 500 including stamp paper and notary |
| Adult gazette fee | Rs 1,100, for a real name change |
| Demat account | Broker or depository participant charges |
| Dematerialisation | A per-certificate charge, usually small |
| Timeline | Weeks, by correspondence |
| Our service | Basic from Rs 999, Complete from Rs 1,999, quoted separately |
The envelope in one line, where publication applies: covering letter with your phone and email, affidavit (notarised), Public Notice typed in two copies with two witnesses on each, CD in MS-Word format with the signed CD-Certificate, both complete newspaper pages, photo identity proof, address proof, photographs and the BharatKosh receipt.
Before You Write: Check These
- Do PAN and Aadhaar already agree with each other?
- Have you found the current RTA rather than the one printed on the certificate?
- Do you have the folio and certificate numbers noted?
- Have you asked about unclaimed dividends in the same letter?
After the Gazette: What Updates Next
PAN first, then Aadhaar, then the RTA, then dematerialisation. Keep the certificates safe until the demat is confirmed, and keep photographs of them permanently, because a certificate lost in the post is a much larger problem than a misspelled one.
What Other Websites Get Wrong
- Wrong: write to the company. Right: the register sits with its Registrar and Transfer Agent.
- Wrong: use the address on the certificate. Right: the RTA may have changed; check the current one.
- Wrong: sell the shares and sort the name later. Right: paper cannot be sold, and the name blocks demat.
- Wrong: old certificates can wait. Right: long-unclaimed holdings can be moved to a government fund.
- Wrong: that means the shares are lost. Right: they can be claimed back, but it is a longer route than acting now.
Areas We Serve in Uttar Pradesh
This is done by post and email, so your district matters less here than almost anywhere else. Across all 75 districts, most often these:
| Awadh and central UP | Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Raebareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Amethi, Bahraich |
| Purvanchal and eastern UP | Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ballia, Deoria, Mirzapur, Basti, Ghazipur, Mau, Sonbhadra |
| Western UP and NCR | Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Mathura, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, Hapur, Firozabad |
| Rohilkhand and Bundelkhand | Bareilly, Moradabad, Rampur, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Pilibhit, Bijnor, Amroha, Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba, Chitrakoot |
Families in smaller districts often assume this is a Mumbai problem needing a Mumbai agent. It is correspondence, and it can be done from anywhere with a post office. Our chamber is at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow 226010, with the city guide on our Lucknow page. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002 from any district.
Key Terms on This Page
Plain definitions for the words that come up at the counter:
- Registrar and Transfer Agent
- The agency that maintains shareholder records for a company and processes name corrections on them.
- Attestation
- Confirming that a copy matches an original, or that a signature was made in front of the person confirming it.
- Affidavit
- A statement you swear is true, signed before a notary on stamp paper. The notary confirms you signed it, not that the contents are true.
- Name correction
- Fixing a name that was written wrongly by somebody else. Lighter than a change, because an older document already shows the right version.
- Department of Publication
- The office at Civil Line, Delhi that receives name change files and publishes the notification.
- Name change
- Adopting a different name from the one your documents correctly record. This is the case that usually needs publication.
Related Guides on This Site
Whichever counter you reach next, there is a guide for it here:
- share certificate name change: the main guide covering every situation.
- PAN name change: the anchor identity for anything in securities.
- PAN and Aadhaar mismatch: fix this before writing to an RTA.
- bank records: where the dividends will land.
- nominee corrections: the same review is worth doing on holdings.
- policy endorsement: the other paper asset families find in a cupboard.
- two names in different documents: the affidavit that bridges them.
- spelling correction: choosing one version for everything.
- name change after marriage: the full document sequence.
- problems and mistakes: what to do when a request stalls.
- contact the office: Lucknow office, phone and WhatsApp.
- demat accounts: a name borrowed from PAN, so the work is upstream.
- mutual fund folios: you may hold several without ever having noticed.
Why We Ask for a Photograph of the Certificate
People describe what they have found and we ask them to photograph one certificate instead. It carries the company name, the folio number and the certificate numbers, and from those three we can identify the current registrar in a few minutes. What we usually find alongside is unclaimed dividends nobody knew about. The correction itself is ordinary correspondence; knowing where to send it is the part people get stuck on. Vipin Chauhan, B.Tech LL.B, starts from the folio.
- We identify the current RTA: not the one printed years ago.
- We fix PAN first: because everything in securities anchors to it.
- We ask about unclaimed dividends: in the same letter.
- We send estate matters to a lawyer: where there is any complexity.
Associate office at Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, serving all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 6:30 PM. Call 9540003316 or WhatsApp 9540005002.
Photograph One Certificate
Uttar Pradesh Name Change
Associate Office: Chamber No. 19, Sadar Tehsil, Sector 5, Gomti Nagar Vistar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226010
Head Office: Metro Pillar 337, Hardev Nagar, Street 1, Shop No 1 (Shri Sham Documentation)
Call: 9540003316
WhatsApp: 9540005002
Email: info@uttarpradeshnamechange.com
Hours: Mon to Sat, 10 AM to 6:30 PM
Send a photo of one certificate. The company name and folio number are enough for us to find the registrar and tell you what to write.
Get Call and Name Change Format
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Share Certificate Name Correction: FAQs
Who do I write to?
The Registrar and Transfer Agent for that company, not the company itself. It maintains the shareholder register.
How do I find the RTA?
From the company name and folio number. The current registrar is listed on the company's investor relations page, and it may differ from the one printed on an old certificate.
Can I just sell the shares?
Not as paper. Securities are transferred in electronic form now, so the holding has to be dematerialised first.
Why does the name matter so much?
Because dematerialisation moves the shares into a demat account opened against your PAN, and the names have to match.
What order should I do things in?
Fix PAN and Aadhaar so they agree, correct the name at the RTA, use a demat account in that name, then dematerialise.
What happens if certificates sit unclaimed for years?
Where dividends go unclaimed for a long run of consecutive years, the shares can be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund.
Does that mean they are lost?
No. The fund holds them and there is a claim process. It is simply a longer route than correcting a name today.
What should I send with the request?
PAN, Aadhaar, a cancelled cheque, the certificate and folio details, and an affidavit linking the two spellings.
Should I mention dividends?
Yes, in the same letter. Forgotten certificates usually have years of unclaimed dividends against them.
The certificates were my father's.
Then this is a transmission rather than a correction, involving the death certificate and succession documents, and the RTA will specify what it needs.
Do I need a gazette?
For a spelling correction, no. Where the name has genuinely changed, RTAs commonly ask for it.
Should I post the originals?
Send tracked, keep photographs of everything, and follow whatever the RTA specifies. A lost certificate is a far bigger problem than a misspelled one.
Official Sources
- Securities market rules requiring transfer of securities in dematerialised form.
- Registrar and Transfer Agent practice for correction of shareholder records and transmission.
- Investor Education and Protection Fund provisions for unclaimed dividends and shares, and the claim process.
- Depository practice for dematerialisation of physical certificates.
Facts here are checked against these sources and our own casework. Rules in this area are set by regulation and revised, and RTAs differ in their document lists, so confirm with the registrar for your company before sending originals anywhere.
The Short Version
A share certificate is unlike anything else in your file because it does not describe a fact, it is the holding itself. And the rules moved: securities are transferred electronically now, so a paper certificate still represents your shares but cannot be sold as paper. It has to be dematerialised first, dematerialisation moves the holding into an account opened against your PAN, and the names have to match. That is what makes the spelling here the blockage rather than a detail, and it explains why old certificates sit in cupboards for decades: somebody tried once, hit the mismatch, and put them back. Write to the Registrar and Transfer Agent rather than the company, quoting the folio number, and check the current registrar rather than the one printed years ago. Ask about unclaimed dividends in the same letter, and do it soon, because holdings left unclaimed long enough can be moved to a government fund.