The Reserve Bank of India’s UDGAM Portal has been set in motion to facilitate the retrieval of unclaimed bank deposits.
What is an unclaimed bank deposit?
An account, be it savings or current, is classified as inoperative or dormant if no transactions are recorded either by the account holder or any third party for a duration exceeding two years. Similarly, recurring and term deposits are deemed inoperative if the principal amount remains unclaimed for a period surpassing two years post maturity.
Subsequently, if after a decade, the account—whether savings, current, or term deposit—remains dormant, the unclaimed sum is transferred to the Depositors Education & Awareness Fund (DEAF).
To use UDGAM, register with your mobile number and verify via OTP. The mobile needn’t belong to the person whose unclaimed deposits are being searched. After logging in, input the account holder’s name, select a bank, and provide a detail like PAN, voter ID, or date of birth to search. Results direct users to the bank’s official site where they can find unclaimed accounts and claim procedures.
As of February 2023, public sector banks hold unclaimed deposits amounting to ₹ 35,000 Crores. Seven prominent banks, including SBI, PNB, Dhanlaxmi Bank, and DBS Bank India, are set to pioneer the first phase of RBI’s UDGAM Portal.
