Banks return over Rs 10,000 crore in unclaimed deposits to families in last 3 yrs

New Delhi, Dec 2 India’s banks have settled more than Rs 10,000 crore worth of unclaimed deposits in the last three years, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed that both Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Private Sector Banks have handed back thousands of inactive or forgotten accounts to rightful claimants between April 2022 and November 2025.

Under Reserve Bank of India’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund Scheme, banks are required to transfer balances from savings, current, and term deposit accounts that remain unclaimed for 10 years to a central fund managed by the RBI.

As of June 30, 2025, Public Sector Banks had transferred over Rs 58,000 crore to this fund, with the State Bank of India alone accounting for Rs 19,330 crore.

Private Sector Banks have added another Rs 9,000 crore to the DEA Fund, led by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank.

To ensure that these amounts reach the rightful owners, the RBI has issued clear directions to banks to trace account holders, publish lists of unclaimed accounts on their websites, maintain proper grievance redressal systems, and actively search for heirs of deceased customers.

The Government has supported these efforts with a nationwide awareness campaign titled Aapki Poonji, Aapka Adhikar -- Your Money, Your Right, launched in October 2025.

Public Sector Banks have settled more than 22 lakh accounts since 2022, returning around Rs 8,460 crore to customers or their legal heirs.

The State Bank of India leads this list, having settled over 16 lakh accounts worth Rs 3,868 crore.

Central Bank of India has also returned more than Rs 1,262 crore, while Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank have settled significant amounts as well.

Private banks have settled nearly 11 lakh accounts in the same period, returning close to Rs 900 crore.

ICICI Bank accounts for the bulk of these cases, having processed over 8.6 lakh accounts.

Axis Bank, Federal Bank, Karnataka Bank, and HDFC Bank have also returned sizeable amounts.

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