NCI) anor mats coun oF ase NPei2023-2aNACHIOS January 29,2028 To [AINACH Member Banks ‘APBLLACH CR roturns in case of in-operatve accounts, Reference may bo taken from RBI communication RBU2029-24/106 DOR.S0G (LEG) REC 64/ 09.08.024 202324 dated January 12024 (copy attached), Banks are vised to take note and comply wit the above mentioned circular and moto rturn| Direct Benefit Tans fr flowing reacons: aE | Sa Se ee 59 | Account In-operative 54 | Dormant Account ‘The resod instructions as per the Crcular shoul be implomented we 1 Api 2024 Win warm rogard, so! Grier GM Chief Customer Suocess & Stale Gov Relatonship@ surtta Peer ter RESERVE BANK OF INDIA 12023-24105, DOR.SOG (LEG) REGIesI09.08.02472023.24 January 1, 2024 ‘Madam / Deae Sir Inoperative Accounts Unclaimed Deposits in Banks- Revised Instructions ‘As per extant instructions, the credit balanes in any deposit account maintained with banks, which have not been operated upon for ten years or more, or any amount Femaining unclaimed for ton years or more, as mentioned in paragraph ti) of the "Deposior Education and Awareness" (DEA) Fund Scheme, 2014, are requred fo be transfered by banks fo DEA Fund maintained bythe Reserve Bank of India. 2. As a measure to assist the account holders and wth a view to consolidating and rationalising he extant instructions on inoperative accounts, o raviow was cariad out In conealtaton with all stakeholders, ase on the review, it has boen decided to issue comprehensive guidelines on the measures to be. put in place by the banks covering various aspects of classifying accounis end deposits 3s inoperative ‘accounis and unclaimed deposits, 23 the case may be, periodic review of such ‘2ccounis and deposits, measures to prevent fraud in such aocountstleposts, stievance redroccal mechanism for expeditious resolution of complains, stops to bo faken for tracing the customers of inoperative accounts! unclaimed deposi incuding their nominees! legal hal for re-acivation of acccunls, salement of claims or closure and the process fo be followed by them. These instuctions (provided inthe ‘Annex are expected to complement the ongoing efforts and nates taken by banks {and the Reserve Bank, fo reduce the quantum of unciaimed daposits in the banking {system and retum such deposits to ther ighul nmr claimants, 3. These instructions are issued in exercise ofthe powers conferred by Sections 95A, fol the Banking Regulation Ac, 1949 road with Sactons 268,51 and 58 ofthe Act bid ‘and all othe provisions o this Actor anyother laws enabling Reserve Bank (issue instructions In this regard, 4. This crater is epplcable to al Commercial Barks (Including RRBs) and all Co- ‘operative Banks, 5. The revised instructions shall come ino effect fom April, 2024, ‘Yours fethuly (SunTS Nair) (Chief General Manager Encl As above‘Annex Inoperative Accounts Unclaimed Deposits in banks- Revised instructions (Gear No, DOR.SO (LEG). RECIAID 03.0247025 24 eed Jay, 2028) PART I PRELIMINARY 4. Definitions (@)Inis Ceuta, unless the context states othorwise, the terms herein shall bear the meanings assigned to them below: |. Bankinduced transaction- Transactions inthe accountiniiated bythe bbank 2s ports extant policy such as charges, fee, interest payments, penaltis, taxes (an lustrative Hts given in Annex) |i. Customer induced transaction- The transactions in account which are in the natu of: 8) a financial Waneacton inated by or done at the behest of the ‘account holder by the bank! third party (an lusrative sts given in Annes.) oF, 2) a non-tinancal transaction, or ©) KC updation done in face-to-face physical mode or through distal channels such as intemet banking or mobile banking application of the bank. li, Financial transaction- A monetary transaction inthe saving! current ‘count ofthe customer with tha bank ether by way ofa creditor debit |v. Inoperative Account: A savings! current account shall be treated as inoperative, if tere are no ‘customer induoed transactions’ ia the account for 8 period of over two years Non-financial transaction- An enquiry or request for any product service inated by the account holder through any ATM or internet banking or mobile banking application ofthe bank or through Thi Party ‘Applcalion Providers, which requires tworfacor authentication (2FA) ‘ad loaves a tral for aut purposes or successful log-in fo the internet banking’ mobile Banking application, tustratvely, this includes transactions such a8 change in transaction lit, request for issue ofcheque book! credit card! debit card, nomination facity, balance enquiry, te Wi. Unclaimed Doposits- The credit balance in any deposit account ‘maintained with banks, which Reve not been operated upon for ten yyeare of more, or any amount remaining unclaimed for tan years of "mere 8s mentioned in paragraph 3) ofthe “Depostor Education and Awareness” (OEA) Fund Scheme, 2014. Vii. Unclaimed Deposit Reference Number (UDRN)- It is a unique number generated through Core Banking Soliton (CBS) and assigned to each uncaimed account! dopesi transferred to DEA Fund of RBI ‘The number shall be such thatthe sccount holder or the bank branch ‘whore accourtis maintained, cannot be identified by any third party (©) Al other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same mearing 2s have been assigned to them unde the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 or the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1834 or any statutory modification or re-enactment ‘theroto or as used in commercial parlance, asthe case may be. 2 Review of Accounts 2.4 Banks shall underake ailesst an annual review in respect of accounis, where ‘hore is no customer induced transactions for more than a year. In cases where there '5 no explicit mandate to renew the term depos, the banks should review such accounts if the customers have not withdrawn the proceeds after maturity or \Wansferred these to thet savings/current account in order to prevent such deposits ‘tom becoming uncisimed. The banks shall inform the accounlepoeit holders in ‘ting through letters or email or SMS (he email and mobile number are registered ith the bank) that there has been no operation in thelr accounts(deposi inthe last ‘one yeer, a8 the case may be. The alert messages shal invariably mention that the ‘secount would become ‘inoperative’ no operations are carried out during the next ‘one year and, the account holder would be require to submit KYC documents afresh for reecivating the account in such cas. 22 1 the letters are cotumed undelivered oF no response ie received through registered emai, the bank shall immediately undertake an enguiry to find out the whereabouts of account holder or his nomineetiegal heirs in case the account holder is deceased2.3. Incase any response is received rom the account hole gving the rezone for not operating the account, the banks shall continue to classy the account as ‘operative for one more year and the account holder shall be advised to operate the ‘account within a period of one year (herein alter roferted to as extendad period). In ‘28e the account holder il fails to operate the account within the extended pero, the banks shall tassity tno said account as inoperative account after the expiry ofthe ‘extended perio. 2.4 For the purpose of cassitving an account as ‘inoperative’, ony customer induced transactions and not bank induced transactions shal be considered. Thete may be Instances where te customer has given a mandate ike Standing Instucions (SI)! ‘aulo-renewal instructions and there are no other operations inthe Savings Curent ‘2ccount or the Term Deposit. These transactions shal also be treated as customer induced transactions 2.5 The classification of an account as inoperative chal be fora particular account of ‘the customer and not with reference to the customer. In case @ customer is ‘maintaining multple accountsldeposits wih a bank, all such accounts/doposis shall bo assessed individually forthe purpose of classifying them as inoperative account! ‘unclaimed deposit, asthe case may be. 26 In case the account holer isnot carrying out ansaction and the account is ‘inoperative due to shiting of primary accountto another bank, the accourtholder may be requested to provide the detalls ofthe new bank account with authorisation to ‘enable the bank to transfer the balan frm the existing benk account 3. Treatment of accounts opened for credit of scholarship amount and eredit of Direct Benefit Transfer undor Government Schemes. ‘Te banks open zero balance accounts for beneficiaries of Centra Siate government schemes and for students who receive scholarship. Central and State governments hhave been expressing dilfculy in crediting cheques/Direct Benefit Transfer! Electronic Boneft Transfer scholarship amount in these accounts 8s they are sso assiied 2s inoperative due to nor-operation fortwo years. The banks shall, based ‘on the purpose of opening ofthe account, segregate the aforementioned accounts in thelr CBS, so thatthe supulation of inoperative’ account isnot applicable to these ‘counts due to teirnon-operation for a peiod of more than two years. To avoid theFok of frau, etc, in such accounts, while allowing operations in these accounts, the bank should exercise due dligence as per the extant instructions, 4, Sogrogation and Aueit of Inoperative Accounts! Unclaimed Deposits 4.1 The segregation of inoperative accouns is required to be done o reduce the risk ‘of frauds. The transactions in inoperative accounts, which have been reactivated, shall be monitored regal, for atleast six months, at higher vols. by contling authories of the concerned branch) without the knowedge and notice of the ‘customers and the dealing staff 42 The banks shall ensure that amounts Wing in inoperative accountsunctaimed oposite and reactivated inoperative accounts! unclaimed deposits, are subjected to ‘concurrent aut '5. Tracing of Customers of inoperative Accounts/ Unclaimed Deposits 5.1 The bank shall contact he holders) ofthe inoperative account/ unclaimed deposit ‘through letters, email or SMS (ithe email and mobile number are registered with the bank). The email! SMS shall be sent on a quarterly basi. {52 In case the whereabouts of the holder() ofthe inoperative account unclaimed doposit are not traceable, the banks shall contact the introducer, if ny, who had Introduced the account holder tothe bank atthe time of opening ofthe account. The ‘banks shall also contac! the nominee, if registered, for racing the customer. ‘5.3 The banks shall undriake special drive periodically to find out the whereabouts (ofthe customers, the nominees or egal hers in respect of inoperative accounts / unclsimed deposi, PART Il- OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES 6. Activation of Inoporative Accounts 6.1 The banks shall make avalable the faciy of updation of KYC for activation of Inoperative accounls/ unclaimed deposits at all branches (including non-home: branches) and through Video-Customer identification Process (V-CiP) requested by ‘the account holder, subject to the fcily of V-CIP being provided by the bank, The V- CCIP related Instructions under Master Direction - Know Your Customer KYO) Dicecion, 2016 dated February 25, 20168 (as updated from tine to time) shall be ‘edered toby the bank,{6.2 The banks shall activate the inoperative accounts! unclaimed deposi, including those which are under freeze by orders of various agencies Ike Courts, Tribunal, Law Enforcement Agencies, only ater adhering to the KY guidelines provided inthe ‘Master Direction - Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 dsted Februcry 25, 2016 (25 updated from time to time) such as Customer Due Diigence (C00), customer identification, sk categorisation, to {63 The banks shal ensure that activation of inoperative account unciaimed deposits In OBS necessary requires second lavel of authorisation by enothor officer at the ‘same or higher level (Le, through maker and checker). System logs shall variably bbe maintained in caso of any actviy in or activation of inoperative ‘accounts/unclsimed deposits for concurrent audt purpose, The preservation period ‘of such system logs shall be as per the internal guidelines of the bank {64 The bank shall automaticaly intimate the inoperative accounl/ unclaimed deposit holders though SMS and regiserad email stating that on the basis of the KYC documents submited by them, the inoperative status of the sccount hae been ‘emoved. The intimation shall also mention the remectal measures available to them to report unauthorised access, if any. This would alert the account/ unclaimed deposit holder against any possible fraudulent activity in hither inoperative account. The banks shall have in place adequate operational safeguards to ensure thal the laimants in case of inoperative eccourts/ unclaimed deposts are genuine. The banks shall process requests for activation of inoperative account) unclaimed ‘deposits within tree working days from the receipt ofthe complete application. 7, Payment of Intorest Interest on savings accounts shal be credited on a regular basis respective of the fact thatthe account sin operation or not, Lovy of Chara 8.4 The banks are not permitted to levy penal charges for non-maintenance of ‘minimum balances in any account thats classified as an inoperative account 182 No charges shall be levied for activation of inoperative account,8. Display of Unclaimed Deposits and Search Facility Banks shal host the deta of unclaimed deposits (only name, address (without pin ‘code) and Unclaimed Deposit Reference Number (UDRN}, which have been Itansfored to DEA Fund of RBI on their respective websites, which shaf be updated regularly, atleast on @ monthly basic. The banks, which do not have their own ‘websites chal make available the above ist af unclaimed deposits in their respective branches. The database hosted on the website shall provide a search optionto enable {he public to search for their unclaimed deposits using name in combination with the ‘address ofthe account holder enti, Upon a successful search, deals of unclaimed ‘eposts shal be displayed ina format comgrising account holders name(s), his/her address (ithout pincode) and UDRN ony. In case such accounts are notinthename of indiduals, tho search input and resut should include names of individuals authorised to operate the accounts. However, the account number, its type, ‘uletanding balance and the name of tne branch shallot be disclosed on the bark’s website, 410, Fraud Risk Management in Inoperative Accounts, 10.1 The banks shall not ellow any debit transaction in an inoperative account unless ‘here is a customer induced activaton as per the procedure mentioned in paragraph (of ese guidelines. Further, banks may aiso consider imposing @cooing-off period ‘on reactivation, with restrictions on the number and amount of transactions, as may be applicable for newly opened accounts with the bank, 10.2 The banks shal ensure that there Is no unauthorised access to customer data parsinng to the noperative accounts. The banks shall also eneure that adequate sps ate taken to prevent data thet and related misuse for fraudulent purposes. 114. Customer Awareness 11.4 The banks shall provide on their website 2s well ao at their branches, the Information on the process for acivation of the inoperaive accounW! unclaimed ‘deposits and claiming the balances therein, Necessary claim fms and documents ‘may be mad avaiable fr the benefit of customers,11.2 Tho banks shall conduct public awareness and financial Iteracy campaigns regularly 10 educate the members of public about the acivation of inoperative ‘sccountslundaimed deposits and the preseribed procedure to claim amount ying {herein by 8 Geposior or hiser nominee! legal het incase of daceasod depositor. PART Ill- REPEAL PROVISIONS 12, With the issue ofthese instuctions, the instructione/gudelines contained in the érculars mentioned in Annex I, esued by the Reserve Bank stand repealed,‘Annex 1. Financial Transactions 8) ATM Cash witdrawalldeposit b) RTGS/ NEFT/ IMPS /UPY/AePS! ABPS Transactions 9 Intemet Banking Transactions 4) Debit Card Transartions {9} Transfer of funds from / to the Enked CBDC(e-Rupee) account 4) Cheque Clearing 9) Remitance of funds by way of demand drafts 1) Cash withdrawal by third party trough cheque 1) Standing Instructions issued by the customer |) NACH Debit / Credits ) Team Dopost nterest/proceods 1) Dividend on sharesnterest on Debentures or any olher investment proceeds 1m) Direct Bono Transfer (OB1) crete 1) Refunds ike refunds related to e-commerce payments, Income Tax Returns, etc. (0) National Electtonie Tll Collection (NET) debits 2. Bank Induced Transactions 2) Alltypes of charges levied by banks including taxes deducted ) Savings Bank account interestsList of Ctculats repealed Annex ~~ Circular No ~~ Description Date of | Sreuar ‘DOBRBPDIPCRRCH, | Urcained —Beposts 7] February 27 Gina 18'30100000% inoperative Accounts yanks | 2015 Pers Diy ist of hopes fecouns- Al Primary (bar) Conperatve Bankr State and Cental Cooperative ADRES RETA | osooizo%e-is SPCOCORABROEE No 3005.05 39701 16 i {BBOBNE Lag —BG-| operate Rescue Seer, pain? 20448 aa | /RPCD.RRB.BC.No.106/ | Levy of Penal Charges on Non- | May 27, 2014 150689201214 |matienance of rium IBD BPD Gx NoSDIE Balancce in Inoporativa Accounts vy of Ponal Charges on Nor | | May 75,2074 | 3.on2013-14 Maintenance of Minimum Balances in inoperative Account: ‘All Primary (Urban) Co-operative ‘a ee ___. ‘DBOD.DirC.No-109 | Levy of penal charges on non 113.03002012-14 | maintenance of minimum balances in inoperative Accounts RECDRCBBCNs. [Unclaimed Deposits / | Ociobar7, 42107.51.014/2013-14 | Inoperative Accourés in Banks -| 2013 “Treatment of Certain Savings Benk Accounts ‘Opened for Crest of Scholarship ‘Amounts and (Creit of Direct Seneft Transfer under Government Schemes RPCDCORRBBGN. |Unciaines Deposits 7] October 4, 41103.09.3822013-14 | inoperative Accounts in Regional | 2013 Rural Banke-Treatment of Certain Savings Bank Accounts ‘Opened for Crest of Scholarship ‘Amounts and Credit of Drect ryn Bent —Tranafor andor] eal Government Schemes 10 | UBD.SPD IBGBICIF.Ne | Unclaimed Deposis/noparatve | Seplombor 2511301 00072013-14 | Accounts in UCB Treatment of | 30,2013 | ‘ora savings bank accounts ‘pened for cred of Scholarship ‘mounts and ced of Doct Benefit Transfer under Goverment Schemes Al Primary” (Urban) Co-opertive Barks Z i | DBOONeLeaBO. | Unciaimed Bepastsnoperatve | September $590807.00572013-14 | Accounts in banks ~ Treatment | 17,2013 of certain savings bank accounts opened for ret of Scholarship mounts and credt of Dect Bernat’ Transfer under Government Schemes 72 | RECO NSRRG RGB BG | RREWSIOBEIDCCEs = [une 2, ‘8303.07.03372011-12 | Strenghening the Regulatoy | 2012 Framawork for Unciaimed Doposts ie _ 75" | BBODNE_LeA BC | Unelaimed Deposit iaparaive | February 7, suoaor.00s0r1-12 | Accounts in Banks -|2012 | Display ist of Inoperative Accounts 14 [RPCDNGRRBRCBIG. | Unclaimed Deposits __7| February 8, — '58103.05.03972011-12 | operative Accounts in Banks -| 2012 Dizplay List of Inoperatve Accounts 1S |RECOGORREBCNe, |Uncsimed deposits and | ay 22,2005 10809,05.99/2008-09 | inoperative / dormant accounts in ban RRBs 16 | RPCUCOREBCNad® | SCas/0CCEs — Unclaimed | February 78 107.38.012008-09 | ceposits and inoperative /| 2000, Corman accounts banks 47 | DBOD Lea NoBC.55 | tnoperative Accounts 109.07,0082000-10 | UBD.APD (PCa) —GH Unelarned —Dapoate and No19413.0,00072008-10| inoperative” Dormant Accounts inves 79 | UBD.BPD (PCB) Cir No; Unclaimed Deposits and | Sey '/1.01,00072008.09 | Inoperatve/ Dormant Accounts ‘nude | DBOD NeLéa BO34 | Unclaimed Deposits 7 19,07.00572008.09 _| inoparave Accounts in banks