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| Rs 49,000-cr lying unclaimed in banks, insurance companies | | |
Early Times REport
Jammu, Aug 3: It sounds incredible but true! An amount nearly Rs 49,000-crore has been lying in different banks and insurance companies as unclaimed.
Interestingly despite repeated reminders, banks have failed to locate operators of these unclaimed accounts.
Replying to question in the Rajya Lok Sabha, the government informed that as per information received from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total amount of unclaimed deposits of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) was Rs. 24,356 crores, as on 31.12.2020.
“As per information received from the Insurance Regulator Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the total amount of unclaimed amounts of policyholders in public and private sector insurance companies was Rs. 24,586 crores, as on 31.12.2020”, the government said.
RBI has informed that unclaimed deposits have increased by Rs. 5,977 crores in the year 2020, as compared to the year 2019, on account of depositors not having claimed their deposits from banks.
“As per information received from IRDAI, the unclaimed amounts have increased by Rs. 6,343.78 in the year 2020, as compared to the year 2019”, the government informed.
“Pursuant to the amendment of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and insertion of section 26A, RBI has framed the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (Fund) Scheme, 2014 (Scheme). The scheme has already been notified vide Gazette Notification dated 24.5.2014. As per the scheme, the fund is utilized for promotion of depositors’ interests and for such other purposes which may be necessary for the promotion of depositors’ interest as may be specified by RBI”, the government stated.
As far as insurance companies are concerned, pursuant to the Government of India’s Notification dated 18.03.2016, IRDAI has issued circulars dated 11.04.2017 and 25.07.2017 as per which all insurers having unclaimed amounts of policyholders for a period of more than 10 years transfer such fund to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF) every year. The SCWF is utilized for schemes for promoting the welfare of senior citizens. RBI has advised banks to play a more pro-active role in finding the whereabouts of the account holders of unclaimed deposits/ inoperative accounts.
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