A senior official confirmed the development and said that the government has also written to the Reserve Bank of India on this issue. “We have also had separate discussions with state-run lenders. This also benefits banks because, in the absence of a nomination, at times legal issues arise that impact both banks and their customers,” he said.
Earlier this year, minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad informed the Lok Sabha that public sector banks (PSBs) transferred ₹35,012 crore of unclaimed deposits to RBI at the end of February 2023 from accounts that had not been operated for 10 years or more.
A bank executive aware of the matter said lenders are in discussions with the RBI, and one of the suggestions is that bank branches should be held accountable and that both the nomination and tracing of unclaimed deposits should be made a part of their performance appraisal.
“Both the government and RBI have made it clear that they are not in favour of more money getting accumulated in the depositor education and awareness fund,” he added. Last week, the RBI launched ‘100 Days, 100 Pays’ campaign to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank. Under the scheme, banks will trace and settle their top 100 deposits in every district of the country.
“We are looking at getting PSB Alliance on board to work out a common mechanism for tracing customers and informing them accordingly,” the above-quoted bank executive said.
As per the RBI mandate, savings or current accounts that are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits that are not claimed within 10 years from the date of maturity, are classified as ‘unclaimed deposits’.
Banks transfer such money to the depositor education and awareness fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The depositors can still claim their money at a later date from the bank, along with any applicable interest.
