
As of March 2023, unclaimed deposits with banks have witnessed a 28% annual increase, reaching Rs 42,270 crore, according to information provided in Parliament on Tuesday. In comparison to the Rs 32,934 crore of unclaimed deposits with public and private sector banks in FY22, the amount rose to Rs 42,272 crore at the end of March 2023, marking a 28% increase. Among these, Rs 36,185 crore constituted unclaimed deposits with public sector banks, while Rs 6,087 crore were with private sector banks.
To address this issue, banks transfer unclaimed deposits of account holders inactive for 10 or more years to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. The RBI has taken measures to reduce the volume of unclaimed deposits and return them to rightful claimants.
- Public sector banks hold the bulk of these deposits (Rs 36,185 crore), while private banks hold Rs 6,087 crore.
- To combat this growing issue, the RBI has implemented various initiatives, including:
- Public awareness campaigns: Encouraging banks to display unclaimed account details on websites and actively seek rightful claimants.
- UDGAM portal: Enabling individuals to search for unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.
- “100 Days 100 Pays” campaign: Banks targeted top deposits in each district for accelerated settlement, resulting in Rs 1,432 crore refunded.
Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha, stated that banks, as per RBI’s direction, have been advised to display lists of unclaimed deposits in inactive accounts on their websites and locate the customers or legal heirs to return the funds.
RBI also instructed banks to formulate a board-approved policy on unclaimed deposits’ classification and establish a grievance redressal mechanism for complaint resolution, record-keeping, and periodic review of unclaimed deposit accounts. Additionally, a centralised web portal named Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access Information (UDGAM) has been set up by RBI to search unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.
Furthermore, the RBI launched the ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign, urging banks to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of each bank in every district within a 100-day timeframe. The campaign, held from June 1, 2023, to September 8, 2023, saw 31 major banks, constituting over 90% of unclaimed deposit balances with the DEA Fund, refunding Rs 1,432.68 crore by the end of the initiative.
In response to another question, Minister Karad highlighted that gross NPAs in scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) have been declining over the years. As of March 31, 2023, gross NPAs amounted to Rs 5,71,544 crore, indicating a Gross NPA ratio of 3.87%. Additionally, he noted that slippage ratios of SCBs have seen a decline, reaching 1.78% in 2022-23.
In a separate response, Minister Karad provided data on frauds reported by scheduled commercial banks related to cards/internet transactions during the fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23. During this period, there were 3,596 and 6,659 reported frauds, respectively.
The ministry emphasized that despite these reported frauds, the substantial increase in the number of total digital payment transactions during the same period is a noteworthy aspect of the evolving digital ecosystem. The Ministry of Home Affairs clarified that police and public order are state subjects, and the central government supports state governments through advisories and financial assistance for addressing cyber frauds.