The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched a new campaign to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days. The campaign, named ‘100 Days 100 Pays’, aims to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system and return such deposits to their rightful owners/claimants.
According to RBI, the measure will complement the ongoing efforts and initiatives by the central bank to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system. The move is aimed at promoting financial literacy and raising awareness among depositors to avoid their deposits from becoming unclaimed.
The RBI has also urged all banks to participate in the campaign and make efforts to trace and settle the unclaimed deposits. The central bank has also asked banks to create a dedicated cell to handle such cases and to publicize the names of account holders whose deposits are unclaimed on their websites.
The RBI has emphasized the importance of banks identifying and tracing the rightful owners of unclaimed deposits. The central bank has also asked banks to take adequate measures to ensure that such deposits do not become unclaimed in the future.
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 not 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 the Parliament.
Unclaimed deposits have been a major concern for the banking industry, and the RBI has been taking several initiatives to reduce their quantum in the system.
