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If you have money deposited with any bank in the country. And, you are not aware of it, then, here is good news for you. You can find out about it. Claim the amount that has been lying there for years.

When a customer or a third party does not make any transaction from a savings or current account for two years, then, that account becomes inoperative or dormant. This means you cannot transact any amount from that account.

Similarly, if a fixed deposit is not claimed within 2 years of maturity, it also becomes inoperative or dormant. After these accounts remain inoperative for 10 years, the balance is transferred to the Reserve Bank’s Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF).

The Reserve Bank has recently launched a portal called UDGAM. You can obtain information about unclaimed amounts kept in bank accounts through this portal, There are over Rs 35,000 crore lying in banks across the country with no claimants. This money is lying in the Reserve Bank’s Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF). Simple interest at the rate of 3 percent per annum is also added to this fund.

The Reserve Bank has started this portal with unclaimed deposits kept with 7 banks in the country . Initially, through this portal, information about unclaimed deposits lying in some banks can be obtained. These are Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, DBS Bank, Hamachi Bank, State Bank of India, City Bank and South Indian Bank. All other banks will also join this portal from October 15.

Now let’s understand how this portal can be used?

According to Sanchit Garg, CEO and co-founder of GLC Wealth, any user can register on the Reserve Bank’s UDGAM portal. They can obtain information about unclaimed deposits. During registration, the user’s mobile number will be used as the user ID and a password will also be created. After using the user ID and password, the user will have to provide information on either of PAN, or date of birth, passport number, or voter ID number.

Similarly, if you want to find out about such an account of a person in your home, then, you can do that too. There is no need to enter that person’s phone number. You can register on the portal with your own number. After that, you will have to enter the name of that person i.e., the account holder or joint account holder. Then you will have to select the relevant bank from the drop-down menu, if you do not have information about the bank then you can select All Banks. Finally, you will have to enter information either on your PAN, or your voter ID, driving license number, passport number, date of birth or either of these. After that, you will have to click on ‘Search’.

The search result will list all the banks where the customer has a bank account. Now, when you click on the name of a bank, its official site will open where you can access the ‘unclaimed deposits’ section. Here, customers can see a list of unclaimed accounts and search for more information about the fund claim process.

So this is how you can get complete information about your lost bank accounts. Using this UDGAM portal is easy.

Sanchit Garg says, “We have got a platform in the form of UDGAM portal which is easy to use. It will help account holders and common people quickly find their lost accounts that have been inactive for years. These are accounts whose balance have been transferred to the Reserve Bank’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.

However, experts in the banking sector say that it could have been made better. For example, it would be better if along with the list of banks and unclaimed accounts, if the amount lying in those accounts could have also been found out there and then. If this happens then people’s time would be saved. they would be able to decide whether they want to move forward to claim or not?

In addition, concerns are also being expressed about data safety. For registration on the portal, there should have been stuffs like Aadhaar verification in addition to phone numbers. This would help prevent unauthorized login and filing of false claims.

Although UDGAM portal may help find out about unclaimed deposits of people. But, there is also a need to simplify the process of filing the claim. Those who have an account in their name can easily claim it themselves. But if someone has died. He has not nominated anyone, then, after finding out about their unclaimed account, the process of making the claim is not easy.