Under the RBI’s Commercial Banks – Responsible Business Conduct Directions, 2025, a savings or current account is classified as inoperative if there have been no customer-induced transactions for more than two years.
If the balance in such an account remains unclaimed for 10 years, banks are required to transfer it to the DEA Fund maintained by the RBI. Term deposits that remain unclaimed for 10 years after maturity, along with certain other eligible credit balances, are also transferred to the fund under the DEA Fund Scheme, 2014.
The RBI said ₹86,917.08 crore in unclaimed deposits had been transferred by banks to the DEA Fund as of June 30. The central bank, however, doesn’t maintain data on the total amount currently lying in inoperative bank accounts.
Customers and their legal heirs can still claim money after it has been transferred to the DEA Fund. Banks settle valid claims and are subsequently reimbursed by the RBI from the fund.
The total amount reimbursed to banks for such claims stood at ₹17,414.68 crore as of June 30, 2026.
RBI steps up efforts to return unclaimed money
To speed up settlement of claims, the RBI issued comprehensive directions in September 2025 to standardise and streamline procedures for handling claims involving deceased bank customers, including their deposit accounts.
The central bank also introduced the Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits in September 2025, which took effect on October 1.
Under the scheme, banks are offered an incentive equivalent to 5% to 7.5% of the unclaimed deposit amount, subject to a cap, for each successfully settled claim.
Banks have also been advised to periodically conduct special drives to trace customers, nominees and legal heirs linked to inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits.
They are required to regularly update lists of unclaimed deposits on their websites, conduct public-awareness and financial-literacy campaigns, and contact account holders through letters, email or SMS every quarter where contact information is available.
The government and RBI also conducted the three-month “Your Money, Your Right” campaign from October through December 2025. Special camps were held across 748 districts to help people trace and claim unclaimed financial assets.
As of June 30, 2026, ₹7,320 crore in unclaimed financial assets had been returned to rightful owners by various fund regulators.
The RBI has also launched the UDGAM portal, which allows people to search for unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in one place.
