Unclaimed Deposit is not decreasing, RBI said so many crores of rupees are lying unclaimed

The RBI Annual Report 2023–24 was released today by the Reserve Bank of India. Along with the bank's balance sheet, the RBI also provided information in this report regarding the unclaimed deposits made at the bank.

According to the RBI's report, banks will have deposited Rs 78,213 crore as unclaimed deposits by March 31, 2024. Year over year, there has been a 28% increase in the amount of unclaimed deposits. The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund had a balance of Rs 62,225 crore at the end of FY 2023.

The amount that has been in the account for ten years or longer has been transferred by RBI to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. Earlier this year, the central bank had given guidelines to all the banks of the country for unclaimed deposits.

RBI had instructed the banks to review such accounts from time to time. Apart from this, important steps should also be taken to prevent fraud in these accounts and to resolve complaints quickly. Apart from this, RBI has also given information about the process to be adopted for reactivating the account and settling the claim.

Actually, RBI wants the unclaimed deposits in the bank to be reduced. This amount should be returned to their rightful owners/claimants. The instructions given by RBI are applicable to all commercial banks (including regional rural banks) and all cooperative banks of the country from April 1, 2024.

RBI also launched the UDGAM portal for claiming unclaimed deposits. By visiting this portal, one can easily claim unclaimed deposits.

According to the annual report of the central bank, the size of the balance sheet of the Reserve Bank increased by 11.08 percent to Rs 70.47 lakh crore by March 2024. The central bank has made the highest-ever dividend payment to the government. There was an increase of Rs 7,02,946.97 crore from Rs 63.45 lakh crore as of March 31, 2023.