The move aims to bring uniformity in the process followed by banks for releasing funds and belongings of deceased customers to nominees or legal heirs. It is expected to address delays and inconsistencies currently faced by claimants across different banks.
The development comes amid a rising volume of unclaimed deposits with banks. As per government data presented in Parliament on July 28, Indian banks had transferred over ₹67,000 crore in unclaimed deposits to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund as of June 30, 2025.
Public sector banks accounted for ₹58,330.26 crore of the total unclaimed deposits. State Bank of India led the list with ₹19,329.92 crore, followed by Punjab National Bank (₹6,910.67 crore) and Canara Bank (₹6,278.14 crore). Among private banks, ICICI Bank contributed ₹2,063.45 crore, followed by HDFC Bank (₹1,609.56 crore) and Axis Bank (₹1,360.16 crore).
According to existing norms, savings and current accounts inactive for 10 years, and term deposits unclaimed for 10 years after maturity, are transferred to the DEA Fund.
This policy announcement comes on the same day the central bank decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.5% and retained its neutral stance. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to maintain the rate, citing concerns over global tariff uncertainties.
The RBI also retained the GDP growth projection for FY26 at 6.5%.
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