Multiple IDs are no guarantee against mess-up

Well, read about the experience of Madhav Parekh a regular retail investor. Many would say Parekh is a lucky person. On December 2, 2006, this Mumbai resident received his routine DP statement from the Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL) and was surprised to find a credit of 20 shares of Parasvnath Developers, although he had never applied to its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

A little later, there was another surprise — a refund letter from Parasvnath Developers informing him of the electronic credit of Rs 12,000 through UTI Bank to his bank account. The letter, a copy of which is available with us, shows an ostensible payment of Rs 18,000 by Parekh, an allotment of 20 shares and a refund of Rs 12,000.

Parekh’s bank account however showed no such credit. Since then he has written several letters to the registrar and the company pointing out that he has neither applied for the shares, nor received any credit of Rs 12,000, as claimed.

Many in Parekh’s position would have been thrilled at the bonanza, sold the shares, pocketed the money and even closed the DP account and waited for someone to detect the mistake. Instead, he has been chasing his DP and registrar for six weeks to rectify the problem and transfer the shares. We got to know the case only because when he was tired of being given a run-around whereas he should rightfully have received a Thank You and an apology from the DP and Registrar.

The flip side of this is that another investor, who actually applied for Parasvnath shares is surely running around for the last...