Unclaimed Bank Deposits in PSBs (Full List): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to develop a web portal to enable search across multiple banks for possible unclaimed deposits.
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In a development that will help people to trace their unclaimed deposits lying in banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to develop a web portal to enable search across multiple banks for possible unclaimed deposits.
Public Sector Banks (PSBs), including SBI and PNB, transferred Rs 35,012 crore of unclaimed bank deposits to RBI at the end of February 2023. These deposits have been lying in banks unclaimed for 10 years or more.
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“As per information available with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as at the end of February, 2023, the total amount of unclaimed deposits transferred to RBI by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) in respect of deposits which have not been operated for 10 years or more, was Rs. 35,012 crore,” Dr Bhagwad Karad, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, said in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha on April 3.
As per RBI’s instructions, banks are required to make an annual review of accounts in which there are no operations for more than one year. Banks may also approach customers and inform them in writing that there has been no operation in their accounts and ascertain the reasons for the same.
“Banks have also been advised to consider launching a special drive for finding the whereabouts of the customers / legal heirs in respect of accounts which have become inoperative, i.e., where there are no transactions in the account over a period of two years,” said Dr Karad.
“Further, banks are required to display the list of unclaimed deposits/ inoperative accounts which are inactive/inoperative for ten years or more on their respective websites, with the list containing the names and addresses of the account holder(s) in respect of unclaimed deposits/ inoperative accounts,” he added.
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Bank-wise list of unclaimed deposits
What RBI plans to do
The RBI will set up a centralised web portal to enable search for unclaimed deposits across banks. The search will be further augmented with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.
“The deposits remaining unclaimed for 10 years in a bank are transferred to the “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India. Depositors’ protection being an overarching objective, 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. On the second aspect, banks display the list of unclaimed deposits on their website,” the RBI said in its “Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies” on Thursday (April 6).
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“In order to improve and widen the access of depositors/beneficiaries to such data, RBI has decided to develop a web portal to enable search across multiple banks for possible unclaimed deposits based on user inputs. The search results will be enhanced by use of certain AI tools,” it added.
