UDGAM 2023: RBI launches new web portal for citizens, how to find unclaimed money, log in link, online registration

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The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India officially opened the “UDGAM” (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access inforMation) consolidated web portal on 17th August, 2023. With this program, the RBI hopes to give the general public a simple way to look up their unclaimed deposits from numerous banks in one location.

Unclaimed Deposits: Meaning

The Reserve Bank of India defines unclaimed deposits as ” Balances in savings / current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from date of maturity are classified as Unclaimed Deposits. These deposits are transferred by other banks to Reserve Bank of India through the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund. But the depositors still have the right to get their money back from the bank or banks that held it, together with any pertinent interest, at some point in the future. However, despite occasional public awareness initiatives launched by banks and the RBI, the quantity of Unclaimed Deposit is trending upward. This was officially announced by RBI earlier in the year 2022.

The rising tide of unclaimed deposits are mostly the result of depositors not terminating savings or current accounts they no longer intend to use or not lodging redemption requests with banks for fixed deposits that have reached maturity. There are other instances involving accounts held by deceased depositors in which the nominees or legal heirs fail to convey a claim to the bank(s) in question. Banks already host a list of Unclaimed Deposits on their websites with some identifying information to assist such depositors or the nominees or legal heirs of dead depositors in locating and claiming the deposits. The general people is urged to locate and contact the relevant bank to claim such deposits.

What is UDGAM portal?

UDGAM, also known as Unclaimed Deposits- Gateway to Access inforMation is a Centralised web portal/website designed for the citizens who has unclaimed or abandoned amount of money in the hands of their respective banks. The citizens can now approach their banks under this portal and identify their claims. The banks have already been provided with a list of citizens who can access such deposits.

Key features of UDGAM:

• UDGAM portal will allow citizens to  to search their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks at one place.
• It is a part of the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated April 06, 2023.
• The launch of the UDGAM web portal will aid users to identify their unclaimed deposits/ accounts and enable them to either claim the deposit amount or make their deposit accounts operative at their respective banks.

List of Banks under UDGAM portal:

Users will initially have access to information on a total of seven banks that have been added on the portal regarding their unclaimed deposits. However, the remaining banks can be accessed in a phase manner by the citizens after October 15, 2023. The following is the list of initial 7 (seven) banks under UDGAM:

• State Bank of India
• Punjab National Bank
• Central Bank of India
• Dhanlaxmi Bank Limited
• South Indian Bank Limited
• DBS Bank India Limited
• Citibank N.A

How to access UDGAM portal?

The citizens can access the web portal through the link given below:

https://udgam.rbi.org.in/unclaimed-deposits/#/login

After opening the web portal the citizens need to follow the following steps:

• STEP 1: You can choose the language preference English or Hindi out of options given at the top right corner of the portal.
• STEP 2: Click on the register button (only if you are a new user, otherwise, click log in if already registered)
• STEP 3: a) To “Register“, fill in the details such as mobile number, full name, give a password (the password should be of maximum 8 characters comprising of one upper case (ABC etc.) as well as lower case (abc etc.) alphabet, one numeric value (123 etc.) and one special character (@#$*& etc). Once you provide a password, you need to re-enter the given password and then enter the ‘captcha’ as shown in the page. Scroll down to agree to certain terms and conditions and click “Next”. You will be directed to another page which will display your successful registration. b) To “Login” you need to enter your already registered mobile number, enter the password and click “Next”. You will directed to the required services portal to access it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

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