Rs 760 Crore Unclaimed Deposits Being Returned to Claimants Per Month Says RBI
PM Narendra Modi said that nearly ₹1.04 lakh crore remains unclaimed across banks, insurance companies, mutual fund houses and dividend accounts
Mumbai: With the government and the central bank stepping up efforts to help citizens reclaim unclaimed deposits, the payouts to customers are steadily seen rising from October onwards. According to the data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its bi-monthly Monetary Policy press conference on Wednesday, on an average banks have been returning Rs 760 crore per month to the claimants since October (when the 'Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits' was launched) compared to average monthly refund of Rs 180 crore from April 2025 to September 2025 (prior to the scheme).
"Banks have also earned Rs 600 crore incentive for doing aggressive tracing of the customers and then returning the amounts to them," said Lakshmi Kanth Rao, executive director, RBI.
"There were two events. One is the campaign for three months from October to December by DFS, Government of India, and also RBI. So, that led to a lot of unclaimed deposits being returned to the claimants. Also, we have come out with an incentive scheme to the banks, which also helped. It is around the same time. So, both these initiatives actually led to a lot of amount being returned."
"Earlier, from April 2025 to September, average refunds returned used to be around Rs 180 crore which has increased post this campaign to Rs 760 crore per month from October till now. So, to that extent, it is quite a jump," he added.
In October-December, the Government of India launched a nationwide campaign — “Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar— Your Money, Your Right” to facilitate the settlement of unclaimed financial assets (bank deposits, insurance, dividends, shares, mutual funds and pension) to their legitimate claimants. In addition, the RBI has rolled out consolidated directions for claim settlement and an incentive scheme called 'Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits' offering 5–7.5 per cent payouts to banks for successful recovery of unclaimed deposits. Banks have also been asked to conduct periodic drives, publish lists and improve outreach to depositors and nominees. Besides, users can track unclaimed deposits on RBI’s UDGAM portal.
In December, speaking at an event, Prime minister Narendra Modi said that nearly ₹1.04 lakh crore remains unclaimed across banks, insurance companies, mutual fund houses and dividend accounts, asserting that the government is working to return these funds to their rightful owners as part of a wider effort to strengthen public trust. According to him, around ₹78,000 crore lies unclaimed in bank accounts, ₹14,000 crore with insurance companies, ₹3,000 crore with mutual fund companies and another ₹9,000 crore in unpaid dividends.
