The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a campaign called ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ to return unclaimed bank deposits to their rightful owners or claimants. The RBI in a statement on May 12 said that under its special 100 days campaign banks will trace and settle their top 100 deposits in every district of the country. The Banks will start the campaign on June 01, 2023.
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“The Reserve Bank of India today announced a ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign for banks to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days. This measure will complement the ongoing efforts and initiatives by the Reserve Bank to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system and return such deposits to their rightful owners/ claimants,” the statement said.
The Reserve Bank, from time to time, through its public awareness initiatives, has been encouraging people to identify and approach the bank concerned for claiming such deposits. Recently, the Reserve Bank has also announced the setting up of a Centralised Web portal for the public to search unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.
What is an unclaimed deposit?
According to RBI, the balances in savings or current accounts which are not been operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from the 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 Reserve Bank of India.
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Recently, the RBI has been taking various 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 procedure.
As of February 2023, about Rs 35,000 crore in unclaimed deposits were transferred to the Reserve Bank by public sector banks in respect of deposits, which have not been operated for 10 years or more.
The issues related to unclaimed deposits were also discussed during the meeting of the high-powered Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) headed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this week. Nirmala Sitharaman had underlined the need of launching a drive to help people get their unclaimed deposits in banks and other financial institutions.
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How To Claim Unclaimed Deposit From DEA Fund
Currently, if you want to find out whether you or your family members have unclaimed funds with any bank, you need to individually check the website of each bank. Some banks publish lists of customers with inactive accounts and unclaimed deposits, including their names and addresses.
To claim their unclaimed deposits, account holders should visit the branch where their account is maintained and submit the duly filled and signed “Claim Form” or Annexure-B. To do so, you have to provide basic details like the account holder’s name, address, date of birth, or PAN, without needing the account number. This can be a tedious process, especially if you are searching for unclaimed amounts of a deceased family member, where you may not even be aware of all the bank accounts they held.
