RBI to come out with centralised web portal to search unclaimed deposits

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to develop a web portal to enable search across multiple banks for possible unclaimed deposits based on user inputs, its Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. This is being done to improve and widen the access of depositors or their beneficiaries to such data.

“We expect the portal to be ready in 3-4 months,” said M Rajeshwar Rao, deputy governor, RBI.

“Depositors’ protection being an overarching objective, the RBI has been taking various measures to ensure that newer deposits do not turn unclaimed and existing unclaimed deposits are returned to rightful owners or beneficiaries after following due procedures,” the central bank said. Generally, banks display the list of unclaimed accounts on their website but the new website has been envisaged to widen the access of depositors to such data.

Deposits left unclaimed after 10 years in a bank are transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) fund, which is maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to the latest data, at the end of February 2023, the total amount of unclaimed deposits transferred to the RBI by public sector banks (PSBs) in respect of deposits that have not been operated for 10 years or more, was Rs 35,012 crore. And, the number of unclaimed accounts totalled to 102.4 million.

Data provided by Bhagwat Karad, minister of state (MoS), finance, shows that the State Bank of India has the highest unclaimed amount of Rs 8,086 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank (PNB), Rs 5,340 crore, Canara Bank with Rs 4,558 crore, and Bank of Baroda with Rs 3,904 crore.

Normally, according to the RBI’s guidelines, banks are required to make an annual review of accounts in which there are no operations for more than a year, and possibly approach the customers and inform them in writing that there has been no operation in their accounts and ascertain the reasons for the same. Further, banks have also been advised to consider launching a special drive for finding the whereabouts of the customers/legal heirs in respect of accounts that have become inoperative, that is where there are no transactions in the account over two years, the Minister of State informed the Lok Sabha.