The unclaimed deposits by life insurers stood at Rs 16,887.66 crore, as in September 2018 while that of non-life insurers was at Rs 989.62 crore, up from Rs 15,229.53 crore and Rs 847.54 crore respectively in March 2018, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Monday.
The unclaimed deposits rose to Rs 11,494 crore in 2017 from Rs 8,928 crore in 2016, she added.
Of the total unclaimed deposits, the country's largest bank State Bank of India has the largest share of 2,156.33 crore at the end of 2018, Sitharaman said.
"As far as unclaimed deposits in banks are concerned, in pursuance of the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and insertion of Section 26A in the said Act, RBI has framed the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) Scheme, 2014," she said.
In terms of the scheme, banks calculate the cumulative balances in all accounts which are not operated upon for a period of 10 years or more (or any amount remaining unclaimed for 10 years or more) along with interest accrued and transfer such amounts to the DEAF.
The grand total of unclaimed deposits of Rs 14,578 crore in 2018 includes such deposits in the SBI, nationalised banks, private banks, foreign banks, regional rural banks, and small finance banks.
Meanwhile, LIC had Rs 12,892.02 crore as unclaimed deposits as in September 2018 against Rs 10,509.02 crore on March same year. Other life insurers had Rs 3,995.64 crore by September 2018.
In case of general insurance companies, the total such deposits were Rs 535.12 crore as on September 2018 and AIC India and the ECGC, which are specialised agencies, had Rs 23.46 crore. Private insurers had a total amount of Rs 431.04 crore as unclaimed deposits in the same period.
National Insurance Co. Ltd had Rs 102.85 crore, New India Assurance Co. Ltd Rs 180.66 crore, The Oriental Insurance Co Rs 78.85 crore and United India Insurance Co. Ltd had Rs 172.76 crore in September 2018.
( With inputs from IANS )