Unclaimed Financial Assets in India Soar to ₹1.84 Lakh Crore, Says Finance Minister Sitharaman

India’s forgotten money trail stretches across banks, insurers, and regulators. The government now moves to help citizens reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

How many Indians have an old savings account or an insurance policy lying unattended? The answer may surprise many. As per the Unclaimed Deposits and Financial Assets Report 2025 released by the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance, financial assets worth ₹1.84 lakh crore are still unclaimed across India’s banking and financial system.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s unclaimed assets statement, made in Ahmedabad in September 2025, launched a national drive called “Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar” to help citizens trace their lost money. This new effort aims to unite forgotten funds with their rightful owners.

New Government Push To Track Unclaimed Financial Assets In India 2025

The recent DFS report reveals that funds lying unclaimed with Indian banks amount to over ₹78,213 crore, transferred to the Reserve Bank of India’s Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund till August 2025. In addition, about ₹13,819 crore in insurance proceeds, ₹3,000 crore in mutual funds, and ₹9,000 crore in unpaid dividends remain unclaimed.

The Unclaimed Financial Assets in India 2025 report places the overall value of dormant wealth at ₹1.84 lakh crore, spread across banks, insurance firms, and market regulators. The Finance Ministry confirmed that the funds are held safely and can be reclaimed through proper verification.

Sector-Wise Distribution of Unclaimed Financial Assets in India 2025
 

The Finance Ministry’s 2025 campaign aims to locate rightful claimants by linking Aadhaar and PAN data with unclaimed accounts. Citizens can claim their funds anytime by approaching the concerned bank or institution.

Understanding The Concept: What Are Unclaimed Deposits And Financial Assets

Unclaimed deposits and financial assets are amounts left untouched for ten years or more. These include savings or fixed deposits, dividends, insurance claims, and mutual fund proceeds that remain unclaimed by customers or their heirs. As per the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014, banks must transfer such dormant balances to the DEA Fund managed by the RBI.

However, the depositor or legal heirs can still claim the money from the original bank branch, even after the transfer. This mechanism protects customer funds while allowing the central bank to manage unused deposits efficiently.

To make this process simpler, the RBI introduced the UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access Information) portal in 2023. It allows people to search for unclaimed accounts across multiple banks with basic details like PAN, Voter ID, or name. As of July 2025, more than 8.6 lakh users have accessed the portal.

Key Features of the RBI UDGAM Portal
 

The RBI plans to expand the portal by mid-2026 to include insurance companies and mutual fund houses. This unified database is expected to simplify the recovery process for citizens.

Linking Past Coverage: Rise In Dormant Accounts And Unclaimed Funds

This issue is not new. In June 2024, the RBI launched an incentive scheme to motivate banks to reduce dormant deposits by rewarding those that identified and returned unclaimed funds.

Meanwhile, SEBI’s data for 2024–25 showed that unclaimed mutual fund investments jumped by about 20 %, reaching ₹3,452 crore over ₹2,862 crore in the previous year. Similarly, insurance firms reported ₹13,819 crore lying unclaimed.

As LoansJagat reports in “How Is RBI the New Robin Hood? Banks Get Paid for Returning Unclaimed Deposits”, banks will now be paid a share for every claim they process under the drive to return unclaimed deposits. 
 

Experts believe this rise is linked to frequent bank mergers, shifting job markets, and lack of digital awareness among rural customers. Many depositors remain unaware of old accounts, especially when records were not updated after moving to new cities or after the death of a family member.

Government And Banks’ Reactions Over The Years

The Indian government has handled unclaimed funds cautiously. The Finance Ministry ensures that all dormant deposits transferred to the DEA Fund remain secure and retrievable. Yet, the refund rate has been modest. As per the DFS 2025 Report, only about ₹5,700 crore has been returned to rightful owners over the past five years, against the ₹1.44 lakh crore transferred to the Fund during the same period.

The government is working to close this gap. In 2023, the RBI updated KYC rules to allow customers to verify details through video calls or at any branch, not just their home branch. The move was aimed at making account reactivation easier, especially for senior citizens and rural customers.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) and SEBI have also introduced similar online verification processes. Both agencies have instructed companies to maintain public lists of unclaimed funds for easy search.

Key Reforms for Managing Unclaimed Deposits and Financial Assets
 

These reforms mark a shift from manual verification towards digital processes. The government aims to build a transparent and accessible ecosystem where no citizen’s money remains lost.

Conclusion

The discovery of ₹1.84 lakh crore in unclaimed assets paints a picture of disconnection between people and their finances. The government’s Aapki Punji, Aapka Adhikar campaign seeks to bridge that gap. By combining awareness, digital access, and regulatory oversight, it aims to ensure every rupee finds its rightful owner.

Unclaimed wealth is not lost money, it is money waiting to be claimed. The next few months will show how efficiently the system can trace the rightful owners of these funds. For now, the government’s renewed focus has opened a path for millions of Indians to rediscover their forgotten savings and restore faith in the nation’s financial network.

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LoansJagat Team

‘Simplify Finance for Everyone.’ This is the common goal of our team, as we try to explain any topic with relatable examples. From personal to business finance, managing EMIs to becoming debt-free, we do extensive research on each and every parameter, so you don’t have to. Scroll up and have a look at what 15+ years of experience in the BFSI sector looks like.