The Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launches a centralized web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access inforMation).This portal has been developed by RBI for use by members of the public to facilitate and make it easier for them to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks at one place.
The Reserve Bank of India had announced the development of a centralized web portal for searching unclaimed deposits as part of the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated April 06, 2023.
Given the increasing trend in the amount of unclaimed deposits, RBI has been undertaking public awareness campaigns from time to time to sensitize the public on this matter. Further, through these initiatives, the RBI has been encouraging members of the public to identify and approach their respective banks for claiming unclaimed deposits.
The launch of the web portal will aid users to identify their unclaimed deposits and accounts, and enable them to either claim the deposit amount or make their deposit accounts operative at their respective banks.
Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS) and participating banks have collaborated on developing the portal. To begin with, users would be able to access the details of their unclaimed deposits in respect of seven banks presently available on the portal. These are:
1. State Bank of India
2. Punjab National Bank
3. Central Bank of India
4. Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd.
5. South Indian Bank Ltd.
6. DBS Bank India Ltd.
7. Citibank N.A.
The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15, 2023. Unclaimed Deposits are funds available in savings or current accounts, which have not been used for 10 years or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from the date of maturity. These amounts are transferred by banks to the “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India.
The depositors are, however, still entitled to claim the deposits at a later date from the bank(s) where such deposits were held along with interest, as applicable. However, despite public awareness campaigns undertaken by banks as well as RBI from time to time, the amount of unclaimed deposits is shown as an increasing trend.
The growing volume of unclaimed deposits arise mainly due to non-closure of savings or current accounts which depositors do not intend to operate anymore or due to not submitting redemption claims with banks for matured fixed deposits.
There are also cases of accounts belonging to deceased depositors, where the nominees or legal heirs do not come forward to make a claim on the bank(s) concerned. To help such depositors or the nominees / legal heirs of deceased depositors identify and claim the deposits, banks already host the list of Unclaimed Deposits on their website with some identifiable details.
