When a parent passes away, families often find an old passbook in a drawer, a fixed deposit receipt from the 1990s, or a share certificate nobody remembers buying. Some of that money may already have been moved out of the bank’s books into a fund run by the Reserve Bank of India. It is not lost. Unclaimed deposits can be traced and claimed back, with interest on interest-bearing deposits, and there is no deadline for doing so.
This guide explains when a bank account turns inoperative and then unclaimed, what RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund is, how to search for forgotten money on the UDGAM portal, how account holders and legal heirs claim it, and how unclaimed shares and dividends sent to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) can be recovered.
When bank money turns into unclaimed deposits
A deposit becomes unclaimed when it has not been operated for 10 years or more, or when an amount has stayed unclaimed for 10 years or more. RBI’s list is wide. It covers savings and current accounts, fixed and recurring deposits, and also smaller items people forget: demand drafts and pay orders never encashed, unadjusted NEFT credits, balances left in bank-issued prepaid cards, and margin money or security deposits.
Banks must transfer such balances, along with accrued interest, to the DEA Fund on the last working day of the month after the 10-year mark is crossed. So a deposit that completes 10 unclaimed years in April moves to the fund on the last working day of May.
For a fixed deposit, the clock usually runs from maturity. If a five-year FD matured in 2014 and was neither renewed nor paid out, it could have become an unclaimed deposit by 2024. That is why it pays to check old receipts even if the deposit was opened long ago.
The first stage: inoperative accounts
Before an account becomes unclaimed, it becomes inoperative. Under RBI’s revised instructions of 1 January 2024, a savings or current account is treated as inoperative if there has been no customer-induced transaction in it for over two years. Interest credits, charges and other entries made by the bank itself do not count. A deposit or withdrawal you make, a transfer at your request, a successful login to internet or mobile banking, or a KYC update does count.
RBI has put several protections in place at this stage:
- Banks must review, at least once a year, accounts with no customer-induced transactions for more than a year, and write to the account holder.
- If the account holder responds with reasons, the bank keeps the account operative for one more year.
- Accounts opened for scholarships or Direct Benefit Transfers are kept apart so that government credits can still come in after two years of no use.
- Interest on savings accounts must be credited regularly even if the account is inoperative.
- No penalty for minimum balance may be charged on an inoperative account, and no fee may be charged for activating it.
- KYC updation to activate the account must be available at all branches, including branches other than your home branch, and through video KYC where the bank offers it. Banks must process a complete request within three working days.
Once an account is inoperative, you will have to activate it before you can use it normally. That is the moment to act, well before the 10-year mark.
RBI’s DEA Fund: where the money goes
The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund was set up by RBI under Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The scheme came into effect on 24 May 2014. Banks, both commercial and co-operative, transfer unclaimed balances into it.
Moving money to the fund does not end your right to it. The bank still owes it to you and shows it as a contingent liability. When you or a legal heir claim, the bank pays you first, with interest in the case of interest-bearing deposits, and then claims the same amount back from the fund. RBI’s scheme sets no time limit for such a claim.
The amounts involved are large. The Ministry of Finance told Parliament in March 2026 that unclaimed amounts transferred by public sector banks alone to the DEA Fund stood at ₹60,518 crore as on 31 January 2026.
How to search on the UDGAM portal
Searching bank by bank used to be slow. RBI launched UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits, Gateway to Access inforMation) on 17 August 2023 as a single place to search unclaimed deposits across several banks. It started with seven banks. By 28 September 2023, search was available for 30 banks, covering around 90% by value of the unclaimed deposits in the DEA Fund. As on 1 March 2026, the portal had 18.86 lakh registered users.
The basic process is short:
- Register on the UDGAM portal with your mobile number and verify it.
- Search using the account holder’s name along with the other details the portal asks for.
- Note the bank and the Unclaimed Deposit Reference Number (UDRN) shown for any match. Each deposit moved to the DEA Fund gets its own UDRN.
- Take these details to the bank to claim the money or reactivate the account.
Banks must also publish lists of deposits transferred to the DEA Fund on their own websites, showing only the name, address without pin code and UDRN, and update them at least monthly. Account numbers and balances are not shown. If your bank is not on UDGAM, search its website or ask at a branch.
How to claim unclaimed deposits in your own name
The claim is made at the bank, not with RBI. Visit a branch with your UDRN or old account details, fill in the claim or activation form, and complete KYC with your identity and address documents. Once the bank verifies you, it pays the amount, with interest for interest-bearing deposits, or reactivates the account.
The government says the Indian Banks’ Association has introduced a common application form and standard procedure for settling unclaimed deposits through a dedicated bank portal. RBI has also given banks an incentive, effective 1 October 2025, of 5% to 7.5% of the unclaimed amount, subject to a cap, for each successful settlement. Banks therefore have a reason to help you finish the claim.
A practical tip: carry any old passbook, FD receipt, cheque book or statement you have. None of these is strictly needed if KYC matches, but they make it easier for the bank to link you to an old record, especially if your address or name spelling has changed.
If the bank has since gone into liquidation, the claim goes to the liquidator. For deposits that were covered by deposit insurance, the liquidator can claim up to ₹5 lakh per depositor (including interest) from the DEA Fund and pay you.
How legal heirs claim a deceased person’s deposits
Most unclaimed money belongs to people who have died, so the heir’s route matters most. It depends on whether a nominee was registered.
| Situation | Who usually claims | Typical documents |
|---|---|---|
| Nominee registered | The nominee | Death certificate, claim form, nominee’s KYC |
| Joint account with survivor clause | The surviving holder | Death certificate, claim form, survivor’s KYC |
| No nominee, no survivor | Legal heirs | Death certificate, claim form, heirs’ KYC and proof of heirship as the bank’s policy requires |
The exact papers for the last case vary with the amount and the bank’s board-approved policy, so ask the branch for its checklist before you start.
As an illustration, say your late grandfather had a savings account in a small town with ₹1.2 lakh in it and no nominee. You find his name and a UDRN on UDGAM. The family then visits the branch with his death certificate, the heirs’ KYC documents and whatever proof of heirship the bank asks for. Once verified, the bank pays the balance with interest and recovers the amount from the DEA Fund. Start by asking the branch for its written checklist, since a missing paper is the most common cause of delay.
Nomination is now more flexible. Under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, from 1 November 2025 you can nominate up to four persons for a deposit account. Nominations can be simultaneous, with a share or percentage for each, or successive, where the next nominee steps in only if the one above has died. For lockers and articles kept in safe custody, only successive nominations are allowed.
Unclaimed shares and dividends: the IEPF route
Shares and dividends follow a separate path. Under the Companies Act, 2013, a dividend that stays unpaid or unclaimed for seven years is transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund, and shares on which dividends have not been claimed for seven consecutive years are also moved to the IEPF Authority’s demat account. Both can be claimed back.
The claim is filed online in Form IEPF-5 on the IEPF Authority’s portal. Key documents include PAN, Aadhaar and an entitlement letter, which you get from the company or its registrar and transfer agent. The company verifies the claim before the Authority approves it.
The IEPF Authority and SEBI also run one-day Niveshak Shivir camps in different cities where investors can check for unclaimed dividends and shares, update KYC and nomination, and get help filling Form IEPF-5. Separately, IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa portal helps trace unclaimed insurance money and SEBI’s MITRA platform helps trace unclaimed mutual fund amounts.
These efforts are working. During the government’s “Your Money, Your Right” campaign from October to December 2025, camps were held in 748 districts, and ₹5,777 crore across 22.95 lakh claims had been returned to owners by 28 February 2026.
Stop your money from becoming unclaimed
- Close accounts you no longer use instead of leaving small balances behind.
- Log in to each account, or make at least one transaction, every year.
- Give FDs a clear maturity instruction: renew, or credit to a savings account.
- Register nominees on every account, FD, demat account and mutual fund folio, and tell them where records are kept.
- Keep your mobile number, email and address updated with banks, companies and registrars.
- Maintain a simple family list of accounts, deposits and investments.
If you want to see what an old deposit might grow to if renewed instead of left idle, the FD calculator gives a quick estimate.
Key takeaways
- Accounts with no customer-induced transactions for over two years become inoperative; after 10 years, balances are unclaimed deposits and move to RBI’s DEA Fund.
- Your right to the money never lapses. Claim at the bank, which pays you and recovers it from the fund.
- Use UDGAM and banks’ own website lists to search; note the UDRN.
- Heirs claim through nomination, survivorship or proof of heirship, and up to four nominees are now allowed.
- Unclaimed dividends and shares sit with the IEPF and are claimed online through Form IEPF-5.
