Unclaimed Deposits : Brief Knowledge of RBI UDGAM Portal and RBI Deaf Account

Unclaimed deposits have been a persistent issue in India’s banking system. A recent RTI investigation revealed that there are approximately 48000 Crore rupees in unclaimed deposits in various Indian banks. This fund is very huge. This unclaimed amount lies in lakhs of current accounts, savings accounts, fixed and other deposits.

Information of these unclaimed accounts are available on the Bank Website of all major banks. Recently a specific portal is launched by RBI which is a common portal (UDGAM) for searching such deposits.

To address this concern, RBI had introduced Depositors Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF).Any funds associated with a bank account that have been inactive for more than ten years would be transferred by the bank to the RBI Deaf Fund.

Also, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has initiated a campaign named “100 Days 100 Pays.”

The goal of this campaign is to get banks to track down and pay out the top 100 unclaimed deposits from each bank in each district nationwide within a hundred-day window. The RBI hopes to effectively lower the amount of unclaimed deposits in the banking system by putting this programme into place and to make it easier for those deposits’ legitimate owners or claimants to receive them.

In this article we will understand about RBI Udgam Postal, RBI deaf fund, Process to claim the funds from RBI Deaf account, Documents required to claim funds from RBI Deaf Fund.

Introduction of UDGAM portal by Reserve Bank of India

On August 17, 2023 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a centralised online portal for searching the Unclaimed Deposits from a single window. 

Full form of UDGAM is Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access inforMation

Presently there are 30 Banks that are onboarded on UDGAM portal.

List of the Banks available on UDGAM portal. (As on October 2023)

1. State Bank of India

2. Punjab National Bank

3. Central Bank of India

4. Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd.

5. South Indian Bank Ltd.

6. DBS Bank India Ltd.

7. Citibank N.A.

8. Canara Bank

9. Bank of India

10. Bank of Baroda

11. Indian Bank

12. Union Bank of India

13. HDFC Bank

14. Federal Bank

15. Kotak Mahindra Bank

16. ICICI Bank Ltd

17. UCO Bank

18. Bank of Maharashtra

19. IDBI Bank

20. Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd.

21. Punjab and Sind Bank

22. Axis Bank Ltd.

23. Indian Overseas Bank

24. Standard Chartered Bank

25. HSBC Ltd.

26. Karnataka Bank Ltd.

27. The Karur Vysya Bank Ltd.

28. Saraswat Co-operative Bank

29. IndusInd Bank Ltd.

30. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd.

How to check Unclaimed Deposits on UDGAM Portal ?

To use the UDGAM website and find unclaimed deposits, follow these steps:

1. Go to the UDGAM website: https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/login . Log in using your credentials, mobile number, password, and captcha code. Then, click “Next.”

2. You’ll receive a one-time password (OTP) on your phone. Enter it and click “Log In.”

3. On the next page, enter the account holder’s name and choose the bank from the list.

4. Pick one option (PAN, Voter ID, Driving licence, Passport number, or Date of birth) and fill in the details. If you don’t have these, use your address and state to search for deposits.

5. Click “Search.” If there’s an unclaimed deposit, it will show on the screen. If you don’t know the bank’s name, select ‘ALL’ from the list. The portal will search all banks with the provided details and give results in less than a minute.

If the search can’t be done for some banks, a message at the bottom will say so. Click ‘here’ to see which banks couldn’t be found and search for them separately.

What is an RBI Deaf Fund? | What is an RBI Deaf Account?

Full form of RBI Deaf Fund is “Reserve bank of India – Depositors Education and Awareness Fund”. This account was introduced by the RBI in 2014.

This account was created to hold the funds lying in the Bank account which have been inactive for the last 10 years. Bank identifies those inoperative accounts and transferred the fund to RBI Deaf Account.

How to check any Unclaimed Deposit account ?

You can use the RBI centralized portal UDGAM.

or

Information of all unclaimed deposit accounts is available on every bank website. You can search “Unclaimed deposit- Your Bank Name” on google. You will get the respective bank link to check the unclaimed deposit.

How to claim funds from Deaf Account? | how to claim unclaimed deposits from banks

Process to claim funds from Deaf Account :

There are four possible scenarios

1. If it your own account : 

• Visit the Branch : Personally visit the branch where your account was maintained.
• Complete the claim form : Fill out the claim form. Commonly known as Annexure- B
• Submit required information such as Account number, passbook, Fixed deposit receipts or any other relevant documents.
• Submit self attested KYC documents. ( Passport size photo,PAN, Valid address proof such as Adhaar/ Driving licence/ Passport etc.)

After checking the genuineness of the claim, the Bank will proceed for refunds.

2. If You are a nominee : 

In case you are a nominee in any such case, you have to follow all the process as mentioned in Point 1

Along with that, you need to submit the Death certificate of the deceased

3. If you are a legal Heir:  No nominee mentioned in the account

In case there is no nomination available in the account, and claimant is a legal heir of the deceased, In that case claimant need to process the mentioned in Point 1 along with that, claimant need to submit Death certificate of the deceased and Legal Heir Certificate. 

4. Claiming company/ Institutional Funds : In many cases where a company/ Institutional funds goes into RBI Deaf fund. 

The claimant is required to submit a formal request on the official letterhead of the firm. Along with the request, the claimant must provide all relevant documents and KYC (Know Your Customer) information of the firm and its signing authorities. This ensures that the claim is properly authenticated and processed by the bank.

Post submission of all relevant documents, the Bank initiated the claim request from RBI. Usually it will take 7 days to get the refund.

(To know more you can read our article related to death claim settlement and Legal Heir Certificate.)

Documents required to claim funds from RBI Deaf Account | Documents required to get refund of unclaimed deposit

1. Claim form
2. Deposit receipts/ Passbook/ Account statement of the account
3. KYC Documents (Passport size photo,PAN, Valid address proof such as Adhaar/ Driving licence/ Passport etc.)
4. In case of claim made by Nominee or Legal Heirs : Death Certificate of the deceased in case of Nomination available in the account. If no nomination is available claimant need to submit Legal Heir certificate and Death certificate of the deceased account holder.
5. In case of company/institution : Request letter on Company’s letterhead. KYC documents of the company. (Firm PAN card, Entity proof, address proof etc)

Documents related to the constitution of the account such as MOA, AOA etc.

This is required to provide the details of current signatories.  KYC documents of the signatories.

Interest related rule of Unclaimed deposit | Interest rate rule for Deaf account funds

As per a circular issued by the RBI on May 11, 2021, banks are required to pay a rate of interest on unclaimed interest-bearing deposits (savings account & Term deposits) transferred to the DEAF account. The circular states that the rate of interest payable by banks to depositors or claimants will be 3% simple interest per annum, starting from the date of the circular.

Banks are advised to calculate the interest payable on these deposits based on different rates. From June 30, 2018 to July 1, 2018, the rate was 4% per annum. From July 1, 2018 to May 10, 2021, the rate was 3.5% per annum. And from May 11, 2021, onwards, the rate is fixed at 3% per annum until the payment is made to the depositor or claimant.

In the current account, no interest is paid.

FAQ – Unclaimed Deposits , UDGAM portal, RBI Deaf Accounts