The Reserve Bank of India is developing a centralised web portal that will allow depositors or their beneficiaries to search for unclaimed deposits across multiple banks
As of February 2023, approximately Rs 35,000 crore worth of unclaimed deposits have been transferred to the RBI from public sector banks (PSBs). These deposits, which had been inactive for 10 years or more, were associated with 10.24 crore accounts
If a bank account remains inactive for 10 years, money gets transferred to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund every month. The unclaimed money earns interest at rates specified by the RBI, not at the rate at which the deposit was made
You will soon be able to check this unclaimed money lying with banks through a common portal. The search results on RBI's centralised web portal will be enhanced by the use of certain AI tools, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das
If the name exists on the list displayed by the bank, then to claim the funds, one needs to contact the Home Branch and fill out a claim form, provide deposit receipts, and furnish Know Your Customer (KYC) documents
In case one is a legal heir or a nominee, a copy of the account holder's death certificate is also needed to be provided to the bank. The bank will then verify the authenticity of the claim before releasing the payment. Once the bank has paid the customer, it will submit a claim to the RBI at the end of the month to receive a refund from the DEA fund
The common portal will now help you to check such amounts across all banks in one go. Additionally, the RBI has been taking measures to ensure that newer deposits do not turn unclaimed, and existing unclaimed deposits are returned to the rightful owners or beneficiaries after following due procedur
Now the common portal will help you in checking unclaimed money lying with all banks in one go. The portal for reclaiming unclaimed deposits will be ready in 3-4 months, said RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao
"We expect the portal where the funds of Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) are transferred to be ready in 3-4 months," said Rao in a post-monetary policy committee (MPC) press conference. This will help depositors or beneficiaries to get their deposits back and get richer quickly (well, sort of.)