MUMBAI: In a significant initiative aimed at assisting bank customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a web portal designed to aid individuals in locating and retrieving unclaimed deposits with various banks.
It’s common for individuals to overlook modest amounts left in their old accounts while moving forward by opening new bank accounts. Yet, over time, these forgotten funds have substantially accumulated, resulting in banks now holding over R35,000 crore in unclaimed deposits.
A centralised portal for unclaimed deposits
Aiming to return these unclaimed deposits to the rightful owners, the central bank on Thursday launched a centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access information).
The portal, launched by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, has been developed by the central bank to help the public to facilitate and make it easier for them to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in one place.
Presently unclaimed deposits from seven banks - State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank, DBS Bank India and Citibank - are available on the portal. The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15.
Balances in savings or current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from date of maturity are classified as Unclaimed Deposits. These amounts are transferred by banks to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund maintained by the RBI.
“This is a unique opportunity that will enable individual customers to access a common pool of databases that will facilitate them to search and extract details of their unclaimed deposits lying with various banks. Customers tend to leave small amounts in their bank accounts that remain unclaimed and are converted to inoperative accounts,” Jyoti Prakash Gadia, Managing Director at Resurgent India.
“Over the period, the customer either forgets about the same or loses interest in searching for the same on account of the amount being small. However, considering the whopping number of such accounts, the aggregate amount has become so large, prompting RBI as a regulator to take a proactive step in the form of starting this portal to claim the inoperative deposits by individuals,” he added.
State Bank of India (SBI) tops the chart of unclaimed deposits worth R8,086 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank R5,340 crore, Canara Bank R 4,558 crore and Bank of Baroda R3,904 crore.
“UDGAM portal has provided a streamlined and easy-to-use platform for account holders and the general public to search for their old accounts lying inactive or dormant for many years. This is a follow up to the ‘100 days 100 pays’ campaign launched earlier in May whereby banks were directed to find out top 100 unclaimed account holders in their respective districts and assist them in reclaiming such amounts,” said Sanchit Garg, CEO & Co-Founder GLC Wealth.
How to find your forgotten money?
To use UDGAM, individuals are required to register using their mobile number, name, and password on the portal (https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/register). After completing registration, the individual can log in using their registered mobile number and password. An OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number for verification.
After successful login, users are prompted to provide the account holders and bank’s names. They then can select from five identification inputs: PAN number, Voter ID number, driving license number, or date of birth. Following this, users can input the relevant information and designate the desired bank for their search.
If the search criteria match unclaimed deposits, the portal will display the account details. If no unclaimed deposits are found, the result will indicate ‘none’.
“The UDGAM portal launched by RBI for unclaimed deposits is certainly a step in the right direction albeit a bit delayed in our opinion. Estimates of Rs 35,000 crore in unclaimed deposits can definitely be put to better use if these remain unclaimed and this effort by RBI can put a closure on the ownership of these funds,” Manu Rishi Guptha Founder and CEO of MRG Capital, told TNIE.
“Artificial intelligence tools have equipped different government departments like Income tax to get better compliance. Efforts like interlinking of Aadhaar, PAN, mobile numbers with a bank account has made this possible and RBI’s one portal to claim the funds is a good initiative for the benefit of individuals,” he said.
There are several reasons behind deposits turning into unclaimed deposits. One of the main reasons is the depositor’s death without leaving a nomination. Also having a meagre balance in the account or change of name or shifting of residence to another city or country are also other factors behind the rise in unclaimed deposits.
Steps to find unclaimed deposits