RBI, IRDAI & SEBI Intensify Measures To Help Citizens Reclaim Unclaimed Deposits

• Manish Kumar
• 25 Mar 2026
• 167 Views

The key financial sector regulators in India, namely the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), have reported that as of 28 February 2026, the total unclaimed amount transferred by Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund of the RBI is Rs. 60,518 crore (as on 31 January 2026). 

Additionally, the unclaimed insurance amount outstanding with insurers is Rs. 8,973.89 crore (as of 28 February 2026). The value of unclaimed amounts in mutual funds as regulated by SEBI stands at Rs. 3,749.34 crore (as of 28 February 2026). 

Measures Taken By Financial Sector Regulators

To ensure the timely identification of rightful claimants and to reduce both the existing stock of unclaimed financial assets and the accumulation of new unclaimed amounts as well as to simplify and speed up the claims process for citizens, various measures have been implemented by the Financial Sector Regulators. These measures include the following :-

• The Reserve Bank of India has notified detailed directions regarding the claim settlement in respect of banks’ deceased customers. These directions are now consolidated under the RBI Responsible Business Conduction Direction 2025.

• An incentive scheme that became effective from 1 October 2025 provides a payout of 5%-7.5% of the unclaimed deposit amount (subject to a cap) for successful settlement of claims. 

• Further, the banks have been advised to undertake periodic drives to track depositors/nominees/legal heirs, publish unclaimed deposits list and convene awareness campaigns.

• Multiple nominations in bank accounts have been made possible thanks to the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025. 

• Additionally, a Common Application Form and SOP for the settlement of unclaimed deposits through specific bank portals have been introduced by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

• The insurance industry regulator IRDAI notified that the collection of details of the proposer as well as the nominee are mandatory. Such details must be collected at the proposal stage itself.

• Insurers have been advised to take all the possible measures to reach out to their customers regularly by sending prior intimation about their claims due and to increase their efforts when it comes to tracing the unpaid amounts’ rightful recipient and ensure the smooth disbursement of the same. Additionally, on the IRDAI’s official website, the awareness videos, FAQs and SOPs are made available.

• SEBI has introduced several measures for making the transmission procedures simpler. Some of the measures are promotion of nomination, simplified documentation process for claims amounting up to Rs. 5 lakh and availability of comprehensive guidelines, including prescribed forms and documents for various scenarios on the AMFI website. 

• According to the SEBI Master Circular on Mutual Funds released on 27 June 2024, the AMCs need to implement the image-based processing for nominee and joint holder claims to improve turnaround time and establish a dedicated help desk and website for facilitating investors in the transmission procedure. 

• An RBI-developed Central Web Portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access InforMation facilitates the registered users to search unclaimed deposits/accounts across multiple banks at one place. The central bank has informed that as of 1 March 2026, there are 18.86 lakh registered users on this portal.

• The IRDAI has developed the Bima Bharosa portal to help trace unclaimed insurance benefits while SEBI has developed the MITRA platform for locating unclaimed mutual fund amounts. 

• The RBI has established an Inter-Regulatory Working Group to develop a single integrated web portal where citizens can easily search for and claim their unclaimed financial assets.

Shri Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, provided the above-stated information at the Rajya Sabha on 24 March 2026. 

Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB)