Web portal for unclaim deposits to be ready in 3-4 months, says RBI DG M Rajeshwar Rao

Unclaimed deposit portal in 3-4 months

The portal for reclaiming unclaimed deposits will be ready in 3-4 months, said M Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor (DG), Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"We expect the portal where the funds of Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) are transferred to be ready in 3-4 months," Rao said in a post-monetary policy committee (MPC) press conference.

Also read: RBI announces a central portal to track unclaimed deposits

Earlier in the day, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced a centralised web portal for the public to search unclaimed deposits.

"At present, the depositors and beneficiaries of unclaimed bank deposits of 10 years or more have to go through the website of multiple banks to locate such deposits. Now, in order to improve and widen the access of depositors or beneficiaries to information on such unclaimed deposits it has been decided to develop a web portal. This will help depositors or beneficiaries to get their deposits back, " Das said while sharing the outcome of the first monetary policy committee meeting of the financial year 2023-24.

An unclaimed deposit is an account that does not see any infusion or withdrawal of funds or similar activities by a depositor for 10 years or more and is deemed inactive.

Recently, unclaimed deposits with banks fell to Rs 35,012 crore from Rs 48,262 crore a year ago, data made available by the government shows.

The total amount of unclaimed deposits transferred to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by public sector banks (PSBs) in respect of deposits no operated for 10 years or more was Rs 35,012 crore till February 2023 as against Rs 48,262 in March 2022, minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply to Parliament.