Not to forget the time and the risk involved in the registrar ascertaining the bonafide of Dukhi Ram. He has of course decided not to have any of this pain passed down to his children when they become the heir to his holdings and has decided to dematerialise all the holdings.

Reason. "The children will only need to go to the depository participant. After proving their bonafide, my entire holding will in one stroke be transferred in their names. Across allcompanies and all shares", he says.

Like him several old people have realised the benefit of leaving behind demat shares for their children. "A large part of our client base comprises of old people. Some of them tell us they fear loss of their share certificates from none other than their own feuding children. Others say that they have no intention to see their children running from pillar to post to get the shares transferred in their name following their death", says the head of a leading south-India-based depository participant.

Speaking of feuds, the case of Suresh Shah (not his real name) is even more interesting. He was faced with the task of dividing his portfolio among his warring children. Transferring the shares to each of his children would have involved payment of a hefty stamp duty charge as it would have amounted to a transfer. The procedural problems involved in terms of distributing the assets, lodging them for transfer would have posed additional problems.

Shah was advised todematerialise his shares. All he now required to do was to inform his depository participant about the change in the name of the owner and that was the end of it. No stamp duty ofcourse and not to forget the other headaches.

Madurai, where a gang of robbers has played havoc with the local investors. The modus operandi is like this. They get to know the identity of an investor and his holdings. They then go and lodge a complaint of theft of these shares with the police. The case goes to court. For fear of not being dragged into a prolonged court battle to prove that they are the real owners, investors prefer to pay a demanded sum from these robbers in return for the right to deal in their shares!

``Such investors have been told to dematerialise their shares to overcome this problem. More and more people are realising the hidden benefits of dematerialising their shares. Those who have faced a problem with physical shares are of course leading the charge,'' says a depository participant.