Parliament Data Reveals Unclaimed Bank Deposits At Rs 42,270 Cr, Marking 28% Surge
New data disclosed in Parliament on 19 December reveals a substantial 28 per cent increase in unclaimed bank deposits, totaling Rs 42,270 crore as of March 2023.
Compared to the previous fiscal year (FY22) when unclaimed deposits in both public and private banks amounted to Rs 32,934 crore, the current figure represents a significant rise to Rs 42,272 crore by March 2023, marking a 28 per cent surge.
Of this sum, public sector banks held Rs 36,185 crore, while private sector banks accounted for Rs 6,087 crore in unclaimed deposits by March 2023.
Regarding management, banks follow regulatory guidelines by transferring dormant accounts with unclaimed deposits of a decade or more to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund.
Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat K Karad, highlighted the RBI's proactive measures, including directing banks to publish lists of inactive accounts with unclaimed deposits on their websites. This effort aims to locate customers or heirs for the rightful return of these deposits.
Under RBI directives, banks are required to create board-approved policies for handling unclaimed deposits, establish grievance redressal mechanisms, maintain records and regularly review such accounts.
The RBI has introduced the Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access Information (UDGAM), a centralised web portal allowing searches for unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.
Through the '100 Days 100 Pays' initiative, 31 major banks refunded a total of Rs 1,432.68 crore within 100 days from 1 June 2023, by settling the top 100 unclaimed deposits per bank in each district.
Karad highlighted a decreasing trend in Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) within Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) from Rs 9,33,779 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 9.07 per cent) in March 2019 to Rs 5,71,544 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 3.87 per cent) in March 2023.
Slippage ratios, indicating fresh additions to NPAs against the previous year's advances, decreased from 3.74 per cent in FY 2019-20 to 1.78 per cent in FY 2022-23, suggesting a positive trend.
While digital transactions increased, reported frauds also rose from 3,596 in 2021-22 to 6,659 in 2022-23 in categories like credit cards, debit cards, and internet banking.
Karad clarified the responsibilities, stating that states/UTs primarily handle preventing, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting cyber frauds, with the central government supporting through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes.
