Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched UDGAM – Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access inforMation – to tap the unclaimed deposits in the country.
The portal was developed by RBI for use by members of public to facilitate and make it easier for them to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks at one place.
Central bank had mentioned about the portal back in April MPC meet.
“The portal is for the unclaimed deposits which are transferred to the DEA (Depositor Education and Awareness) Fund maintained by the RBI. We expect the portal to be ready in three to four months,” RBI deputy governor had said in a post-Monetary Policy press conference.
How will the portal work?
With the introduction of the web portal, customers will be easily able to locate their unused deposits and accounts. They can either make their deposit accounts active at their individual banks or collect the unused deposit amount.
Click here to access the UDGAM website
The platform was created in partnership by participating institutions, Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), and Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS), according to the latest RBI press release.
On the second aspect, banks display the list of unclaimed deposits on their website. But this portal will give a single window access to the track the finds.
Seven banks available on portal
To begin with, the RBI has provided access to unclaimed deposits in respect of seven banks. The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15, 2023.
These banks are: State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, South Indian Bank, DBS Bank India, and Citibank.
Rise in unclaimed deposits
The deposits remaining unclaimed for 10 years in a bank are called unclaimed deposits, and are transferred to the “Depositor Education and Awareness” (DEA) Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India.
Depositors’ protection being an overarching objective, RBI has been taking various measures to ensure that newer deposits do not turn unclaimed and existing unclaimed deposits are returned to the rightful owners or beneficiaries after following due procedure.
As per the government, the unclaimed deposits in public sector banks have increased by more than 70 per cent between December 2020 and February 2023 and have more than doubled compared to December 2019.
