Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | 07:56 PM ISTहिंदी में पढें
Business Standard
Notification Icon
userprofile IconSearch

Lost track of old deposits or shares? Govt, RBI to launch one-stop portal

The integrated portal would make it substantially easier for citizens to locate their unclaimed funds and convenience, transparency and trust.

cash market, cash

During the campaign, the citizens will be provided with on-the-spot guidance on how to search for their unclaimed assets, update records and complete claim procedures.

Sunainaa Chadha NEW DELHI

Listen to This Article

In a major move that could help  Indians reclaim long-forgotten deposits, shares, dividends, insurance proceeds and pension balances, the Finance Ministry is working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch a single unified portal for all unclaimed financial assets. The portal—expected to go live soon—will allow savers and retail investors to locate and claim missing money across banks, insurers, pension funds, and capital markets in one place.
 
Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary M. Nagaraju announced the development on Thursday at Punjab National Bank’s mega camp under the government's national awareness programme, ‘Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar’ (Your Money, Your Right).
 
 
A surprising amount of household wealth remains stuck in inactive accounts and old investments simply because families are unaware of them, nominees do not know details, or contact information has not been updated. These include:
 
  • Dormant bank deposits
  • Matured insurance policies
  • Unclaimed dividends and shares
  • KYC-related freezes
  • Employee provident fund amounts
 
Mutual fund redemption proceeds
 
Nagaraju stressed that “lack of awareness has led to a huge amount of unclaimed assets sitting idle.” The unified portal aims to change that by providing convenience, transparency, and one-stop access for every citizen.
 
What Exists Today — and Why a Single Portal Is Needed
 
Currently, financial regulators maintain separate systems:
 
RBI’s UDGAM – for unclaimed bank deposits
 
SEBI’s MITRA – for securities like shares, dividends, mutual funds
 
IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa – for life and general insurance claims
 
The upcoming integrated portal will consolidate all these under one roof, coordinated by the RBI. This means users won’t have to visit multiple platforms or contact different institutions.
 
Rs 1,887 Crore Already Returned to Citizens
 
As part of the ongoing national campaign launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 4, outreach camps and digital initiatives have already helped return Rs 1,887 crore to rightful owners or their nominees.
 
Nagaraju said more recoveries are expected as awareness improves and camps expand nationwide.
 
The unified portal is being built alongside the three-month (Oct–Dec 2025) campaign ‘Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar’, conducted across the country by:
 
Department of Financial Services
RBI
SEBI
IRDAI
Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA)
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
 
The goal: ensure citizens reclaim money that rightfully belongs to them.
 
How the Campaign Helps You
 
At district-level camps and bank-led outreach events, citizens receive:
 
  • On-the-spot help to search for unclaimed assets
  • Support to update KYC details, contact information, PAN/Aadhaar
  • Step-by-step assistance in filing claims
  • Digital demonstrations for using UDGAM, MITRA, Bima Bharosa and other tools
 
This drives financial inclusion and ensures families do not lose track of their savings.
 
Why Money Goes Unclaimed
 
Many cases arise due to:
 
  • Death of an account holder without sharing details with family
  • Change in address or phone number without updating financial institutions
  • Forgotten fixed deposits or savings accounts
  • Old shares not dematerialised
  • Matured insurance policies unclaimed
  • Change in signatures or KYC documents
  • Incomplete nominee information
 
What the Unified Portal Will Likely Offer
 
Although details are yet to be officially released, based on current systems, the integrated portal may allow:
 
  • Search across all regulators in one click
  • OTP-based identity verification
  • Centralised claim tracking
  • Uploading documents online
  • Integration with Aadhaar, PAN and DigiLocker
  • Easy nomination updates
 
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 4 launched a three-month nationwide awareness campaign (October-December 2025) on unclaimed assets in the financial sector, titled 'Apki Poonji, Apka Adhikar (Your Money, Your Right)'.
 
The campaign launched by the Department of Financial Services under the Finance Ministry, in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Topics : RBI

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Nov 28 2025 | 10:35 AM IST

Explore News