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Do you or a family member have an old bank account that hasn't been used for a long time? Or perhaps the proceeds from a matured Fixed Deposit (FD) remain unclaimed? In such cases, your money does not vanish forever; you can actually reclaim it.

Yes, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has a specific mechanism to safeguard such funds, and they can be recovered by following the correct procedure. The RBI maintains the 'Depositor Education and Awareness' (DEA) Fund to manage the balances of such inactive and unclaimed accounts.

Launched in May 2014, this fund receives transfers of money from accounts that have remained inactive for 10 consecutive years or where the deposited amount has not been claimed.

When does your money become an 'Unclaimed Deposit'?
According to RBI rules, if there are no transactions in a savings or current account for 10 years, or if the proceeds of a matured FD are not withdrawn within 10 years of maturity, the money is classified as an 'Unclaimed Deposit.' Subsequently, the bank transfers this amount to the DEA Fund.

The best part, however, is that the account holder or their legal heir can still claim this money later. In the case of interest-bearing accounts, interest is also paid in accordance with applicable rules.

How to find your forgotten money using the UDGAM Portal?
To simplify this process, the RBI launched the UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits-Gateway to Access Information) portal some time ago. Today, this portal allows you to view details of unclaimed deposits across multiple bank accounts in one place.

To begin, you must register by entering your name and mobile number. Next, you need to search by providing details such as the account holder's name, the bank's name, and an identifier like PAN, Voter ID, Passport, Driving License, or date of birth. If you do not have any of these documents available, there is no need to worry; you can also search by entering the account holder's address. How can unclaimed money be reclaimed?
To reclaim unclaimed money, the account holder or legal heir must first file a claim with the concerned bank. The bank will then carry out a verification process. Once verification is complete, the amount along with applicable interest will be paid to the customer.

Making a claim is quite simple:
First, visit any branch of your bank.
Submit a claim form along with KYC documents such as Aadhaar, Voter ID, Passport, or Driving License.
After the documents are verified, the bank will refund the amount.

Which accounts have funds transferred to the DEA Fund?
Funds from savings accounts, current accounts, FDs, RDs, cash credit accounts, unclaimed demand drafts, banker's cheques, NEFT credit balances, prepaid card balances, and various other inactive accounts are transferred to the DEA Fund.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.