RBI to Pay Banks for Returning Unclaimed Deposits to Claimants
Banks to get incentives for returning idle funds to rightful claimants
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a “payout structure” for banks to encourage them to actively pursue customers/ depositors for reactivation of their inoperative accounts and also return unclaimed amounts lying with Depositors Education Awareness (DEA) Fund to the rightful claimant in a timely and efficient manner.
The “Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits” will run for a year, viz., October 01, 2025, to September 30, 2026 and aims to reduce both the stock of existing unclaimed deposits and fresh accretion of flows to the DEA Fund by encouraging return to the rightful claimants, said the central bank in a statement.
All inoperative accounts were reactivated, and the unclaimed deposits settled by the banks to rightful claimant during the period of the Scheme will be eligible for payout. The RBI said a differential payout will be given to banks based on the period the account remained inoperative and the amount of deposits in such accounts. For accounts that have remained inoperative up to four years, the payout to a Bank will be 5 per cent of amount or Rs 5,000, whichever is less; for four to eight years, the payout will be 6 per cent of amount or Rs 10,000, whichever is less; and for 8-10 years, the payout will be 7 per cent of amount or Rs 15,000, whichever is less. In the case of unclaimed deposits lying with the DEA for 10 years and above, the payout to a bank will be 7.5 per cent of amount or Rs 25,000, whichever is less.
The period would be reckoned from the date on which the account became inoperative.
When a bank account remains inoperative for a decade or a fixed deposit matures without being claimed, the funds are transferred to DEA fund managed by the central bank. While these amounts can be claimed at any time, the process is often difficult for depositors and their heirs, many of whom are not even aware that the money exists.
RBI’s annual report states that Rs 78,213 crore was transferred to the DEA fund at the end of March 2024 which is a 26 per cent jump over that in the previous year. Another one to Rs 1.30 lakh crore is lying in dormant and inoperative accounts that will be gradually transferred to DEA after remaining dormant for 10 years.
