Is it possible to get securities allotted in public offering directly in the electronic form?

Yes, it is possible to get securities allotted to in Public Offerings directly in the electronic form. In the public issue application form there is a provision to indicate the manner in which an investor wants the securities allotted. Investor has to mention the Beneficial Owner ID and the name and ID of the DP on the application form. Any allotment made will be directly credited into the BO account of investor and you can trade immediately after trading starts on the exchange.

How are cash corporate benefit such as dividend / interest received?

In a demat environment, you are required to give your bank account details to your DP. The concerned company obtains the details of beneficiary holders and their holdings as on the date of the book closure / record date from Depositories. The payment to the investors will be made by the company through the ECS (Electronic Clearing Service) facility, wherever available. Thus the dividend / interest will be credited to your bank account directly. Where ECS facility is not available dividend / interest will be given by issuing warrants on which your bank account details are printed. The bank account details will be those which you would have mentioned in your account opening form or changed thereafter.

How would one receive non-cash corporate benefit such as bonus etc.?

The concerned company obtains the details of beneficiary holders and their holdings as on the date of the book closure / record date from depositories. The entitlement will be credited by the company directly into the BO account of the investor.

Can electronic holdings be converted back into Physical Certificates?
Yes. The process of reconverting demat shares to physical shares is called rematerialisation. If one wishes to get back his securities in the physical form, one has to fill in the RRF (Remat Request Form) and request his DP for rematerialisation of the balances in his securities account.

When to rematerialise?
Security settlement in Indian securities markets takes place only in the demat form and hence, it is advisable to hold shares in the demat form only to quickly sell shares as and when desired. An investor can rematerialise shares only when he has no intention to sell his holdings and wants to hold shares only for the purpose of investment for the long term.