Nearly Rs 49,000 crore lying unclaimed with banks, insurers: Bhagwat Karad
RBI has advised banks to play a proactive role in finding the whereabouts of account holders of unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts, Karad said
An estimated Rs 49,000 crore is lying unclaimed with banks and insurance companies, minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. The data on the unclaimed amount is till December 31, 2020.
The total amount of unclaimed deposits of banks stood at Rs 24,356 crore, as on December 31, 2020, shows RBI data.
He further said that as per the Insurance Regulator Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the total amount of unclaimed amounts of policyholders in public and private sector insurance companies was at Rs 24,586 crore (end-December, 2020).
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The RBI framed the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) Scheme, 2014. As per the Scheme, unclaimed amounts lying with banks are credited to the DEAF by banks and DEAF is subsequently utilised for the promotion of depositors’ interest.
The RBI has advised banks to play a more proactive role in finding the whereabouts of the account holders of unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts, Karad added.