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Unclaimed deposits with banks soar to ₹42,270 crore, up 28% shows Parliament data
Compared to the preceding financial year of FY22, where the unclaimed deposits with both public and private sector banks stood at ₹32,934 crore, the current figure represents a noteworthy increase to ₹42,272 crore by the end of March 2023, marking a 28 percent rise.
The latest data unveiled in Parliament on December 19 indicates a significant surge of 28 percent in unclaimed deposits held by banks, reaching a total of ₹42,270 crore as of March 2023.
Compared to the preceding financial year of FY22, where the unclaimed deposits with both public and private sector banks stood at ₹32,934 crore, the current figure represents a noteworthy increase to ₹42,272 crore by the end of March 2023, marking a 28 percent rise.
Of the total unclaimed deposits, a substantial sum of ₹36,185 crore remained with public sector banks, while ₹6,087 crore was attributed to private sector banks by the end of March 2023.
Unclaimed Deposits Management
Banks, as per regulatory guidelines, transfer unclaimed deposits in accounts dormant for a decade or longer to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund.
Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, Bhagwat K Karad, underscored RBI's active steps to mitigate unclaimed deposits, directing banks to publicize lists of inactive accounts with unclaimed deposits on their websites. This move aims to locate customers or legal heirs, facilitating the rightful return of such deposits.
Under RBI's directives, banks are mandated to develop board-approved policies for handling unclaimed deposits, institute a grievance redressal mechanism for prompt issue resolution, maintain records, and regularly review unclaimed deposit accounts.
Tech-Enabled Initiative
RBI has introduced the Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access Information (UDGAM), a centralised web portal enabling searches for unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.
The '100 Days 100 Pays' initiative, launched by RBI, focused on settling the top 100 unclaimed deposits per bank in every district within 100 days from June 1, 2023, to September 8, 2023. As a result, 31 major banks have refunded a total of ₹1,432.68 crore during this campaign.
Declining Trend in Gross NPAs
Karad highlighted a declining trend in Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) within Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) over successive financial years, indicating a decrease from ₹9,33,779 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 9.07 percent) in March 2019 to ₹5,71,544 crore (Gross NPA ratio of 3.87 percent) in March 2023.
Moreover, the slippage ratios, reflecting fresh additions to NPAs against the previous year's standard advances, decreased from 3.74 percent in FY 2019-20 to 1.78 percent in FY 2022-23, signifying a positive trend.
While digital payment transactions surged significantly, there was an uptick in reported frauds from 3,596 in 2021-22 to 6,659 in 2022-23 in categories such as credit cards, debit cards, and internet banking.
Karad outlined the division of responsibilities, citing that states/UTs are primarily accountable for preventing, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting cyber frauds. The central government supplements these efforts through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes.
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Business NewsIndustryBankingUnclaimed deposits with banks soar to ₹42,270 crore, up 28% shows Parliament data
First Published:20 Dec 2023, 10:22 AM IST
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