Unclaimed Deposits, Shares, And Insurance: How To Check And Claim Your Money

A total of Rs 1 lakh crore is lying unclaimed in the Indian financial system. The fund is lying in the form of bank deposits, mutual funds, and insurance, and is unknown to their rightful owners for several reasons; thus, they are lying unclaimed. The huge sum is futile as neither the authority keeping such funds nor the entitled owner can use it. The government has recently announced the initiative “Your Money, Your Right”.

According to the government, around Rs 78,000 crore is lying unclaimed in banks, Rs 3,000 crore in mutual funds, Rs 9,000 crore in dividends, and Rs 14,000 crore in insurance policies.

As this fund is of no use, the government has taken the initiative, along with the financial regulatory authorities, to tackle this long-accumulating pool of money. Digital platforms have been launched for people to easily search whether any funds lying in these avenues belong to them.

In India, money is not discussed openly in families; as a result, after one’s death, family members don’t know about the deceased member’s investment and how to claim it. This is why it is important to keep family or loved ones informed about one’s finances. At times, people open several accounts and forget to keep track of them, leaving them unattended and forgotten. Outdated know-your-customer (KYC) details also make it difficult for financial institutions to contact the beneficiaries and return the money.

So one should keep track of one’s money going forward, but for the already accumulated pool of unclaimed funds, citizens need to check these portals to ascertain that no fund is lying there belonging to them.

Here are the details of these portals and how to access the funds:  

UDGAM Portal

This portal is for funds lying with banks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched this portal in August 2023, facilitating citizens to look for their unclaimed bank deposits on a single window instead of checking with all the banks separately.

Note that when an account is not operated for two years, it becomes dormant. It includes savings bank accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits, recurring deposits, outstanding demand drafts, pay orders, margin money against letter of credit, and rupee proceeds from foreign currency conversion, among others.

To activate dormant accounts, banks communicate with customers through letters and mail. However, if there is no response or action by the customer, after 10 years, the funds in such accounts or instruments are transferred to the RBI’s Depositors Education and Awareness (DEA) fund.

Notably, the DEA fund created in May 2014 has since been growing every year. In 2014-15, the DEA balance was only Rs 7,875 crore, which grew to Rs 78,212.53 crore by the end of FY2023-24.

To check the unclaimed funds, citizens need to register on the UDGAM Portal and provide basic details, such as accountholder’s name, bank name, Permanent Account Number (PAN), voter ID, etc., to check the unclaimed bank deposit details.

Bima Bharosa Portal

This is for checking insurance policies.

Through this portal, one can check unclaimed insurance policy proceeds. When a policy proceeds are not claimed within 12 months, it turns unclaimed. After 10 years of remaining unclaimed, it is transferred to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF). However, the proceeds still belong to the policyholder, and in case of death, to the legal heir or nominee of the deceased policyholder, and they can claim the amount through the Bima Bharosa portal. 

They can do so within 25 years from the date of transfer. No fee payment is needed for it.

The policyholder or the legal heir can check whether any insurance proceeds are due to them on the portal. One can start it by providing one’s mobile number and email, and the policyholder’s name, date of birth, PAN number, and name of insurance company.  

MITRA Portal

To claim funds lying with a mutual fund, one can use the Mitra - Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant portal.

In the last three decades, retail investor investment in mutual funds has grown significantly. However, withdrawal processes have not streamlined. At times, the maturity proceeds or redemption or dividend, which are supposed to be transferred to the investors’ bank account, lie unclaimed with mutual funds due to closure of an investor’s bank account, pending KYC, outdated contact number, among others. The result is accumulated unclaimed funds.

Now, one can check such funds through the MITRA portal. Investors need to register on the portal and then track the unclaimed funds. The funds, which are not transferred on maturity or in such other cases, are transferred to the designated unclaimed schemes. The investor still holds the right and can claim the amount.

After tracing the unclaimed funds, one can contact the concerned asset management company (AMC) or registrar and transfer agent (RTA) to start the withdrawal process.

IEPFA Portal

This portal is for shares and dividends. When payment from shares or dividends cannot be transferred to investors and remains so for seven years, companies transfer it to the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA).

The portal offers a simple gateway to look for one’s unclaimed shares or dividends by entering the name of the company, demat account ID or folio number, and PAN. One can search the unclaimed fund on the IEPFA portal and make the claim without any fee requirement.

Though the three-month-long ‘Your Money, Your Right’ initiative ended in December 2025, it is not the end of claiming the unclaimed funds. There still remains a huge pool of unclaimed funds. The initiative resulted in returning only Rs 2,000 crore to the rightful owners, but this is a small portion of the huge Rs 1 lakh crore lying there.

So, check the portals to ascertain that there are no funds lying unclaimed that could belong to you.