Why were the shares not eligible for corporate action benefits even though they were purchased before the ex-date?

If your shares, purchased before the ex-date, aren’t eligible for corporate action benefits, it’s likely due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, if the shares haven’t been credited to your demat account by the record date or ex-date, they won’t qualify for corporate action benefits. However, shares bought on or before the day preceding the ex-date/record date usually get credited, except under specific circumstances.

One such circumstance is a settlement holiday on the ex-date/record date. If there’s a settlement holiday, your shares will be credited on the next working settlement day.

Another reason could be a short delivery, where the seller fails to deliver the shares, leading to a classification as a short delivery.