Recovering Your Dormant Bank Account Funds: A Guide
MAS Team | 08 October 2025
Share
1
Have you ever wondered what happens to a bank account that sits untouched for years? After two years of inactivity, your account becomes inoperative, and retrieving your money might seem like an overwhelming challenge.
Fortunately, help is available. The Reserve Bank of India is organizing special outreach initiatives to assist people in recovering funds from dormant accounts. These dedicated camps focusing on unclaimed assets will be held in every district nationwide between October and December 2025.
Understanding Inoperative Accounts
When an account remains inactive for more than two years but less than 10 years, the funds are usually moved to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. It's important to know that account holders or their legal representatives can still claim these funds even after the transfer.
Once an account stays dormant for over a decade, the money is transferred to the DEA Fund. However, depositors retain the right to reclaim their funds at any time.
Current Status and New Initiatives
As of June this year, unclaimed deposits have reached over Rs67,000 crore. To address this, the central bank introduced a year-long incentive program to motivate banks to reduce unclaimed deposit volumes.
This initiative, called the 'Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Payout' for Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits', runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2025. It offers banks varying incentive amounts based on how long an account has been inactive and the deposit value.
The program's goal is to decrease both existing unclaimed deposits and prevent new additions to the DEA Fund by encouraging banks to proactively contact customers to reactivate dormant accounts and return unclaimed funds to their rightful owners efficiently.
Incentive Structure for Banks
Banks can receive 5% of the amount or Rs5,000 (whichever is lower) for accounts dormant for up to four years. For accounts inactive beyond ten years, the incentive increases to 7.5% or Rs 25,000 (whichever is lower).
Banks must file their payout claims quarterly using a specified format within one month after each quarter ends, with submissions requiring signature from a senior executive designated by bank leadership.
The UDGAM Portal
The RBI previously launched UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access Information), a specialized portal designed to improve accessibility and streamline searching for unclaimed deposits. Initially covering seven banks, the platform now includes 30 banks.
This portal allows depositors with unclaimed funds across one or more financial institutions to search for their deposits.
What Makes a Deposit Unclaimed?
According to RBI regulations, funds in savings or current accounts unused for 10 years, along with fixed deposits that have remained unclaimed for more than 10 years past maturity, must be transferred by banks to the DEA Fund.
The DEA Fund was established by the RBI on 24 May 2014. Banks must transfer the complete amount, including accumulated interest calculated up to the transfer date.
How to Use UDGAM
Follow these steps to search for unclaimed deposits:
1. Access the website and log in
2. Complete the registration by providing your mobile number, name, password, and captcha
3. Accept the disclaimer and privacy policy, and confirm legitimate usage
4. After registration, log in and search for unclaimed deposits across the 30 participating banks
Claiming Your Funds
The process is straightforward:
- Visit any bank branch (not necessarily your home branch)
- Submit an application form along with KYC documentation (such as Aadhaar, passport, voter ID, or driving license)
- Complete the verification process
- Receive your funds with interest once verification is finished
Alternatively, you can attend the special camps on unclaimed assets being held in all districts from October to December 2025.
To locate your unclaimed deposits, either check your bank's website directly or use the RBI's UDGAM portal, which currently provides information for 30 banks.
Dear Investor,
In case of any grievance / complaint :
In case of any grievance / complaint :
- Please contact Compliance Officer Shraddha Mhatre at [email protected] and Phone No. - 91-22-35131664.
- You may also approach CEO Debashis Basu at email- id [email protected] and Phone No. - 91-22-35131664.
