New Delhi, April 18 -- New Delhi: The government is planning to work closely with businesses and market players like share transfer agents to find the rightful owners of unclaimed dividends, corporate deposits and share application money to stem the surging flow of such amounts to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), two persons familiar with the development said.

Companies are required to transfer such unclaimed amounts to IEPF, administered by the IEPF Authority (IEPFA), if they could not identify the rightful owners for seven years. IEPFA is attached to the ministry of corporate affairs.

The government has been trying to make the process easier for beneficiaries to claim such amounts and to streamline the refund process...