New Delhi: The government has said that unclaimed deposits with public sector banks (PSBs) and private sector banks (PVBs) rose to more than Rs 52,174 crore in three fiscals (2022-2024) — from Rs 42,271 crore in FY23.
What Are Unclaimed Deposits?
Balances in savings and current accounts that remain inoperative for ten years, or term deposits not claimed within ten years from the date of maturity, are classified as Unclaimed Deposits.
What Happens To Unclaimed Deposits?
The Unclaimed Deposits are subsequently transferred by banks to the DEA fund maintained by the central Bank.
The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014, issued by the RBI, governs the norms related to unclaimed deposits and outlines details of utilisation of the fund, including inter alia, promotion of depositors’ interests and other purposes as may be specified by the RBI.
Unclaimed Deposits Transferred To DEA
The share of unclaimed deposits with the PSBs was Rs 45,140.78 crore, and for PVBs, it was Rs 7,033.82 crore in FY24, which were transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Unclaimed Funds With Insurance Companies
Meanwhile, the amount of the unclaimed funds lying with the insurance companies in three fiscals from 2022-2024 was Rs 21,718 crore.
As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), all insurers who have unclaimed amounts of policyholders for a period of more than 10 years are required to transfer the same with interest to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF) every year.
Further, even after transfer of the unclaimed amounts to the SCWF, the policyholders/ claimant continues to be eligible to claim the amounts due under their respective policies for a period of up to 25 years.
The SCWF is utilised for such schemes for the promotion of the welfare of the senior citizens in line with the National Policy on Older Persons and the National Policy on Senior Citizens
RBI UDGAM Portal
The RBI has launched the Centralised Web Portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits-Gateway to Access Information) for the public. The said portal facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/amounts across multiple banks at one place in a centralised manner.
RBI Guideline On Inoperative Accounts/ Unclaimed Deposits
Reserve Bank of India had recently issued its latest guidelines on inoperative accounts/ unclaimed deposits in banks. RBI has said, the amended instructions shall come into force with immediate effect.
In the latest notification –Inoperative Accounts/ Unclaimed Deposits in Banks – Revised Instructions (Amendment) 2025 — the RBI says that a bank shall make available the facility of updation of KYC for activation of inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits at all branches (including non-home branches).
Further, a bank shall endeavour to provide the facility of updation of KYC in such accounts and deposits through Video-Customer Identification Process (V-CIP).
“The V-CIP related instructions under Master Direction – Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 dated February 25, 2016 (as updated from time to time) shall be adhered to by the bank. Additionally, the services of an authorised Business Correspondent of the bank may be utilized for activation of inoperative accounts as prescribed in paragraph 38(a)(iia) of the above Master Direction,” RBI said.
In a circular dated January 1, 2024 RBI had said the credit balance in any deposit account maintained with banks, which have not been operated upon for ten years or more, or any amount remaining unclaimed for ten years or more, as mentioned in paragraph 3(iii) of the “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) Fund Scheme, 2014, are required to be transferred by banks to DEA Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India. There is a need to enable Business Correspondents to facilitate updation of KYC.
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