Unclaimed deposits in Oct reduced by ₹760 cr: RBI deputy guv S C Murmu

Unclaimed deposits fell by ₹760 crore in October as RBI pushes awareness drives, improves UDGAM access, and plans a two-month campaign to clear pending grievances from January 2026

Unclaimed deposits in October saw a reduction of around Rs 760 crore as a result of a government campaign and incentives to banks from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Deputy Governor Shirish Chandra Murmu said during the post-MPC press meet.

 

In addition, in his MPC speech, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra also spoke of the increase in grievances and pendency with the RBI Ombudsman and proposed a two-month campaign from January 1, 2026, to resolve all grievances pending for over a month.

 

On unclaimed deposits, Deputy Governor S C Murmu said: “Government also came out with a campaign and we also incentivised banks. So the result is clearly visible. In October there was a reduction of around Rs 760 crore of unclaimed deposits from the account. If you compare with that earlier experience, on an average around Rs 100-Rs 150 crore on a monthly basis. Going forward, we believe that it will further accelerate as both government and RBI are putting in efforts.” 

 

Recently, in the Lok Sabha, the minister of state for finance said the RBI has undertaken various public awareness campaigns through print, radio, and digital media to educate the public about the scheme. RBI had launched the centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information) for the public. According to the portal, as on July 1, 2025, there were 8,59,683 users registered and accessing the UDGAM portal. The portal facilitates registered users to search unclaimed deposits or amounts across multiple banks at one place in a centralised manner. 

“We are also looking at improving the portal and making it more user-friendly. So that will also further help in identifying the accounts, and reclaim the unclaimed assets,” Malhotra said.

 

In the recent monetary policy, RBI also proposed to hold a two-month campaign from January 1, 2026, to resolve all grievances that have been pending with the RBI Ombudsman for more than a month.

 

In his MPC statement, Malhotra said: “In the recent past, as a result of, inter alia, receipt of a large number of grievances, pendency with the RBI Ombudsman has increased. I exhort all regulated entities to keep customers central in their policies and operations, improve customer service and reduce grievances.”

 

He also said: “Further, we propose to hold a two-month campaign from January 1 next year with an aim to resolve all grievances pending for more than a month with the RBI Ombudsman. I elicit the support of all regulated entities in this endeavour.”

 

According to the recent RBI annual report of Ombudsman Scheme, 16,128 complaints were pending for disposal at the CRPC at the end of FY25. This was 9,058 at the end of FY24. Total complaints increased by 13.55 per cent to 1.33 million in FY25, up from 1.18 million in FY24. The RBI received these through the Office of the Reserve Bank of India Ombudsman (Orbio) and the Centralised Receipt and Processing Centre (Crpc). Orbio received 2,96,321 complaints in FY25, a rise of 0.82 per cent over the previous year.

 

In his MPC statement, the governor also said the RBI has been focusing on improving customer services and has taken a large number of measures in this regard. “Re-KYC, financial inclusion and “Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar” campaigns are some of the initiatives taken in association with other stakeholders.”

 

Earlier in the year, it also reviewed its Citizens Charter. RBI has also made applications for all its services online. Malhotra also said: “We are publishing the summary of our monthly disposal and pendency of various applications on the first of every month. I am very happy to note that more than 99.8 per cent of the applications are disposed of within stipulated timelines.”