Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Ma for 5 min Read 14 Oct 2025, 04:26 pm. The Supreme Court recently accepted a pill in which a centralized, Aadhaar-linked, E-KYC portal is asked to consolidate all financial assets held by individuals and their nominees over regulated entities. (AI-generated image for representation purposes) Summary millions of investors may be passing their own money decisions, dividends and payouts for insurance-which are captured in unclaimed accounts. It is rarely simple, with legal barriers, lost paperwork and fragmented systems in the way. Millions of Indian investors sit on a hidden fortune – £ 1 trillion in unclaimed bank deposits, insurance payouts, mutual funds and dividends, plus 1.72 billion unclaimed shares from August. Many of them have been unaffected for years, spread over agencies, with very unaware that it exists or is uncertain about how to claim it. Now the government is taking steps to change that. On October 4, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a nationwide campaign to help people locate and claim their unclaimed financial assets. Over the past few months, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Authority for Investor Education and Protection (IEPF) have camps to update KYC’s (know your client) details and provide assistance to plaintiffs. The challenge is not just the scale, but the complexity. Unclaimed money spreads lies across banks, insurance schemes, mutual funds, small savings plans and provident funds, forcing investors to navigate various channels to detect and recover it. To simplify this maze, the Supreme Court recently accepted a Public Interest petition requesting that a centralized, Aadhaar-linked, E-KYC portal consolidated all financial assets held by individuals and their nominees over regulated entities. Look at the full image (graphics: currency) in the direction of a one -stop digital platform today, and unclaimed assets must be detected over separate entities. The RBI’s Deposit and Awareness Fund (Deaf) is where banks convey the money from their clients’ savings and current accounts that have had no transactions for ten years, and deposits that have not been claimed ten years after their maturity. Similarly, when dividends paid on shares, for 7 consecutive years, companies transfer this dividend amount and the shares associated with the IEPF that falls under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Historically, companies have sent dividend controls to their shareholders, which, if not repeatedly surrounded, led to unclaimed shares and dividends. Similarly, unclaimed money is found in small savings schemes (such as the deposit of the Post Office, including Senior Citizens’ savings schemes), employee provision, public provident fund, life and non-life insurance schemes their way in the senior Citizens Welfare Fund. A uniform platform can simplify the process. The Account Aggregator (AA) frame, which was launched in September 2021, can form a base. AA entities, regulated by the RBI, enable permission-based data sharing on banks, mutual funds, insurers and pension funds. “From August 2025, more than 780 financial institutions, including banks, NBFCs, insurers, mutual funds, pension funds and brokers on the AA network, although some sectors, such as insurance and pensions, are still on board,” said BG Mahesh, CEO, Sahamati, a non-profit operating association. Sahamati works closely with regulators to accelerate a united nominated management system on financial institutions. Why assets remain unclaimed lack of awareness is an important factor. “In many families, financial decisions are made by men who often do not inform their spouses or children about their investments. Accordingly, families are not aware of their assets. Another reason is no joint account holder or missing nominations,” says Tastem Allana, senior former banker and senior partner, Trufid Financial Services, a boutique firm. In the absence of a nominee, a bank or a mutual fund home has no way of contacting the coexistence of a deceased investor. Khagesh Chitlangiya, founder and director at JeVygika Innovations, who helps with the repair of unclaimed shares, said: “Many times people are unable to communicate the appropriate facts of their case to the RTA (Registrar and Transfer Agents) in a structured way. RTAS, registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, maintains records and transport shares for businesses. Even when investors are aware, costs and complexity can deter it. Professional recovery services charge, while legal costs may be needed for follow -up certificates or court proceedings if heirs are to be determined. Hurdles in the claim of different assets Untreated bank money are relatively simple. ‘The handling of banks is relatively simple, either through a nomination or indemnity (for smaller amounts). In the case of a deceased account holder, the claim can be made by the nominee or in the absence of one, by a valid will, or otherwise, a certificate of succession or an administrative letter that may be cumbersome, ‘Allana explained. The bank handles the process, whether it is claimed to the deaf before or after transfer. Shares and dividends are more complicated. Chitlangiya said investors should coordinate with the RTA and the IEPF authority as soon as the shares and dividends become unclaimed. Claims before the seven-year period are dealt with only at RTA level. Backlogs at the IEPF delay delays. The IEPF website shows that claims filed in December 2023 (non-Senior Burger category) are currently being processed. Shrey Ghosal, director and chief operating officer at Samadhan, noted that although a company is a time to verify the claim of an investor within 30 days, there is no such time limit for the IEPF authority. He said approved claims were credited within 15-30 days; Now it can take six to eight months. The experience of individual investors underlines the ordeal. Dentist aparna Chitharanjan, based in Chennai, spent three years pursuing her late grandfather’s unclaimed shares for her father and aunt. “We spent so much time and money to pursue this matter. We had to submit a fir for the lost stock certificates, publish notifications in three different newspapers and declared the Supreme Court that my father and sister were the only legitimate heirs. Also a joint Demat account was not an easy process because my aunt is not an Indian resident. Signs of progress There are some positive developments. On October 6, the IEPF authority released the form of IEPF-5, enabling investors to provide details of an authorized representative. A committee has also submitted proposals to simplify low-value claim documentation, covering up to £ 500,000 for physical securities, £ 15 lakh for Demat securities and dividends up to £ 10,000. Yet awareness remains the critical bottleneck. “Because of so many negative stories, 90% of people don’t even make a claim,” says Chitlangiya. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #rbi #unclaimed Bates #trendsrbi #iepf #Money #Unclamed Kopopsite Read Next Story
Unclaimed fortune: Why £ 1 trillion investor money stays out of reach
