RBI launches incentive scheme for banks to return ₹67,000 crore unclaimed deposits

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday announced a year-long incentive scheme for banks to help customers reactivate inoperative accounts and return unclaimed deposits to their rightful owners.

The ‘Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits’ will run from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. It is part of the central bank’s ongoing efforts to reduce the growing stock of unclaimed deposits transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund and to prevent fresh accumulation.

“The objective is to encourage banks to actively pursue customers and depositors for re-activation of their inoperative accounts and return of their unclaimed amounts lying with the DEA Fund to the rightful claimant in a timely and efficient manner,” the RBI said in a statement.

Unclaimed deposits are balances in savings or current accounts not operated for 10 years, or term deposits unclaimed for 10 years after maturity. Such funds are transferred by banks to the DEA Fund maintained by the RBI. Depositors or their heirs, however, retain the right to claim their money along with applicable interest from the original bank at any time.

As of June this year, the unclaimed deposits stood at over ₹67,000 crore.

All banks registered under the DEA Fund Scheme will be eligible to participate in the scheme. Inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits already transferred to the DEA Fund but not yet settled will be covered.

Under the scheme, banks will get 5 % of the amount or ₹5,000, whichever is less, for an account which is inoperative for up to 4 years, and the same will go up to 7.5 % or ₹25,000, whichever is less, in case of an account that is inoperative for over ten years, as per the RBI.

The RBI asked banks to submit their claim for payouts on a quarterly basis in the prescribed format within one month at the end of each quarter, and the same was to be signed by a senior executive identified by the top management of a bank.

The initiative is the latest in a series of measures by the central bank to strengthen depositor protection and improve customer awareness regarding dormant accounts and unclaimed funds.

Despite periodic awareness campaigns, unclaimed deposits have continued to rise due to dormant accounts, unredeemed fixed deposits and cases where nominees of deceased depositors have not come forward.