The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged banks to step up efforts to identify and return unclaimed deposits totaling over Rs 67,000 crore to their rightful owners. Unclaimed deposits include dormant savings and current accounts, matured term deposits, unpaid dividends, interest warrants, and insurance proceeds.

Key Highlights

• RBI directs banks to return over ₹67,000 crore in unclaimed deposits between October and December.
• New relaxed rules allow KYC updates via video, any branch or business correspondent to claim funds.

According to reports, a special outreach initiative will be launched from October to December in rural and semi-urban areas to locate and settle the owners of these dormant accounts. Unclaimed deposits are balances in savings and current accounts that have been inactive for ten years, or term deposits that have not been claimed within ten years of maturity. Banks then transfer these funds to the central bank's DEA fund.

The RBI's initiative will use localised publicity in various languages through print and electronic media to target areas with low literacy and awareness levels. State Level Bank Committees (SLBCs) will analyze unclaimed-deposit data by age profile and bucket concentration to provide a more localized analysis, with a focus on tracing and settling the deposits.

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The UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information) portal is a centralized online platform launched by the RBI to assist the public in finding their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in India. The portal currently covers approximately 90% of unclaimed deposit value, with participation from around 30 banks.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), all insurers that have unclaimed amounts from policyholders for more than ten years must transfer them to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund (SCWF) with interest each year.

Furthermore, even after transferring the unclaimed amounts to the SCWF, the policyholder or claimant remains eligible to claim the amounts owed under their respective policies for up to 25 years. The SCWF is used to fund schemes that promote the welfare of senior citizens in accordance with the National Policy on Older Persons and the National Policy on Senior Citizens.