India revises instructions for unclaimed and inoperative deposit accounts

Accounts covered are those unoperated and amounts unclaimed for 10 years or more.

India’s central bank has revised instructions for bank deposit accounts that have not been operated or remained unclaimed for ten years or more.

The credit balance of such accounts is required to be transferred by banks to the DEA fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank said in an online statement on 12 June 2025.

Deposit accounts covered at those “which have not been operated upon for ten years or more”, or “any amount remaining unclaimed for ten years or more.”

The RBI also updated paragraph 6.1 of the instructions, directing banks to make available a means to update the know your customer (KYC) for the activation of inoperative accounts and unclaimed deposits at all their branches, including non-home branches.

Banks are also directed to provide the facility of updation of KYC through a Video-Customer Identification Process (V-CIP).