Did your dad forget his first salary account that could still be holding unclaimed money? Here is how you can help your elders and yourself
On 10th December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a reminder that crores of rupees belonging to ordinary Indians remain forgotten in old bank accounts, insurance policies, mutual fund folios and dividend ledgers. He revealed that banks alone are sitting on Rs 78,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while insurers hold nearly Rs 14,000 crore in unpaid proceeds. Mutual funds and unclaimed dividends add thousands of crores more. Here is a chance to convert a forgotten financial asset into a new opportunity. Take part in the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ movement! https://t.co/4Td6wyz99i@LinkedIn— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 10, 2025 Calling the numbers startling, PM Modi said that the money represents decades of hard-earned family savings that slipped through the cracks of paperwork, relocations or memories fading over time. To correct this, the Government has launched the nationwide initiative “आपकी पूंजी, आपका अधिकार” or “Your Money, Your Right” in October 2025. The initiative is built on the 3A framework of Awareness, Accessibility and Action. In two months, facilitation camps were held in 477 districts, from urban centres to remote rural belts. Regulators including RBI, IRDAI, SEBI, PFRDA and IEPFA are now working together to help citizens trace forgotten assets. Around Rs 2,000 crore has already been returned, and officials say this is only the beginning. For many families, especially senior citizens, the campaign can mean rediscovering a long-lost deposit or an old policy their parents once purchased. RBI’s UDGAM portal – finding forgotten bank deposits The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the UDGAM portal in August 2023. It is a centralised platform to help citizens locate unclaimed bank deposits lying across different banks. The RBI had noticed a steady rise in dormant accounts over the years, and many families remained unaware that deposits belonging to their parents or grandparents had been transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund. UDGAM solves this by allowing anyone to search multiple banks from a single window instead of approaching each institution individually. Source: RBI The portal has steadily expanded its coverage and now includes almost the entire banking sector. Once a user registers with a mobile number and basic details, they can check if an account linked to their name shows up as unclaimed. If it does, the portal directs them to the concerned bank so they can either revive the account or file a claim. For many families, UDGAM has become the easiest way to ensure earlier savings do not remain forgotten simply because documentation was misplaced or bank branches were relocated. IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa portal – reclaiming unclaimed insurance money Insurance is the sector where people most commonly forget to claim what is owed to them. IRDAI says over Rs 25,000 crore remains unclaimed because policyholders moved homes, lost papers or their nominees were never told that a policy existed. These unclaimed amounts arise from death benefits, maturity payouts, refunds, survival benefits or settlement amounts that remained unpaid for more than 12 months. Source: IRDAI The Bima Bharosa portal centralises this search across all life, general and health insurers. With basic details such as name, PAN, date of birth or policy number, families can check if an insurer is holding unpaid benefits in their names. If a match is found, the claimant must contact the insurer with KYC, bank details and supporting documents. In the case of death claims, nominees or legal heirs need to submit the usual proofs including death certificates and succession documents. The portal also proved useful for NRIs, who can complete the process digitally with self-attested overseas proofs. Bima Bharosa has simplified a process that once required visiting multiple insurers and has ensured that genuine beneficiaries do not lose access to money simply because memories or records faded over time. SEBI’s MITRA portal – tracing inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios SEBI’s MITRA portal is integrated with MF Central. It was created to help investors track inactive or forgotten mutual fund folios. A folio becomes inactive when no investor-initiated transaction takes place for at least 10 years, even though units still exist. Source: MF Central Many families lost track of these investments because they shifted cities, changed email IDs, or never updated their contact information with the fund house. Over time, these folios slip quietly into the unclaimed category. MITRA brings together data from RTAs such as CAMS and KFin Technologies and allows investors to verify whether any such folios exist in their name. After entering an OTP, PAN and other identity parameters, users can access their dormant investments and begin the process of reclaiming them. Once identified, investors can update KYC, provide bank details and request redemption or revival of hol
On 10th December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a reminder that crores of rupees belonging to ordinary Indians remain forgotten in old bank accounts, insurance policies, mutual fund folios and dividend ledgers. He revealed that banks alone are sitting on Rs 78,000 crore of unclaimed deposits, while insurers hold nearly Rs 14,000 crore in unpaid proceeds. Mutual funds and unclaimed dividends add thousands of crores more.
Here is a chance to convert a forgotten financial asset into a new opportunity.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 10, 2025
Take part in the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ movement! https://t.co/4Td6wyz99i@LinkedIn
Calling the numbers startling, PM Modi said that the money represents decades of hard-earned family savings that slipped through the cracks of paperwork, relocations or memories fading over time.
To correct this, the Government has launched the nationwide initiative “आपकी पूंजी, आपका अधिकार” or “Your Money, Your Right” in October 2025. The initiative is built on the 3A framework of Awareness, Accessibility and Action. In two months, facilitation camps were held in 477 districts, from urban centres to remote rural belts. Regulators including RBI, IRDAI, SEBI, PFRDA and IEPFA are now working together to help citizens trace forgotten assets. Around Rs 2,000 crore has already been returned, and officials say this is only the beginning.
For many families, especially senior citizens, the campaign can mean rediscovering a long-lost deposit or an old policy their parents once purchased.
RBI’s UDGAM portal – finding forgotten bank deposits
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the UDGAM portal in August 2023. It is a centralised platform to help citizens locate unclaimed bank deposits lying across different banks. The RBI had noticed a steady rise in dormant accounts over the years, and many families remained unaware that deposits belonging to their parents or grandparents had been transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund. UDGAM solves this by allowing anyone to search multiple banks from a single window instead of approaching each institution individually.
The portal has steadily expanded its coverage and now includes almost the entire banking sector. Once a user registers with a mobile number and basic details, they can check if an account linked to their name shows up as unclaimed. If it does, the portal directs them to the concerned bank so they can either revive the account or file a claim. For many families, UDGAM has become the easiest way to ensure earlier savings do not remain forgotten simply because documentation was misplaced or bank branches were relocated.
IRDAI’s Bima Bharosa portal – reclaiming unclaimed insurance money
Insurance is the sector where people most commonly forget to claim what is owed to them. IRDAI says over Rs 25,000 crore remains unclaimed because policyholders moved homes, lost papers or their nominees were never told that a policy existed. These unclaimed amounts arise from death benefits, maturity payouts, refunds, survival benefits or settlement amounts that remained unpaid for more than 12 months.
The Bima Bharosa portal centralises this search across all life, general and health insurers. With basic details such as name, PAN, date of birth or policy number, families can check if an insurer is holding unpaid benefits in their names.
If a match is found, the claimant must contact the insurer with KYC, bank details and supporting documents. In the case of death claims, nominees or legal heirs need to submit the usual proofs including death certificates and succession documents. The portal also proved useful for NRIs, who can complete the process digitally with self-attested overseas proofs.
Bima Bharosa has simplified a process that once required visiting multiple insurers and has ensured that genuine beneficiaries do not lose access to money simply because memories or records faded over time.
SEBI’s MITRA portal – tracing inactive or unclaimed mutual fund folios
SEBI’s MITRA portal is integrated with MF Central. It was created to help investors track inactive or forgotten mutual fund folios. A folio becomes inactive when no investor-initiated transaction takes place for at least 10 years, even though units still exist.
Many families lost track of these investments because they shifted cities, changed email IDs, or never updated their contact information with the fund house. Over time, these folios slip quietly into the unclaimed category.
MITRA brings together data from RTAs such as CAMS and KFin Technologies and allows investors to verify whether any such folios exist in their name. After entering an OTP, PAN and other identity parameters, users can access their dormant investments and begin the process of reclaiming them.
Once identified, investors can update KYC, provide bank details and request redemption or revival of holdings. Since mutual fund investments are often made during earlier phases of one’s career, MITRA has helped many households rediscover small but meaningful amounts that had silently grown over the years.
IEPFA portal – recovering unclaimed dividends and forgotten shares
The IEPFA portal deals with one of the biggest pools of idle wealth in India. More than one billion unclaimed shares and thousands of crores in dividends are currently parked with the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority because investors did not encash dividends for seven years in a row or because companies could not reach them. Many of these shares belong to investors who bought stocks decades ago and later forgot about them as companies merged, restructured or changed registrars.
Under Section 124 of the Companies Act, investors or legal heirs can apply to reclaim these assets through the IEPF-5 mechanism. The process involves filing the online form, submitting identity and ownership proofs, and sending an indemnity bond and supporting documents to the company’s nodal officer. Once verified, the IEPFA releases the shares or dividends electronically.
Recent reforms such as allowing self-attested documents, waiving succession certificates for claims up to Rs 5 lakh and holding Niveshak Shivir camps across major cities have made the process more accessible. A new integrated digital platform is also in the works, promising real-time tracking and automated verification. For many families, this can mean restoring long-forgotten investments that earlier seemed impossible to trace.
A chance to restore what belongs to you
The appeal made by PM Modi is simple. Do not let your family’s savings go unnoticed. Old salary accounts, forgotten insurance policies, units purchased decades ago or dividends never encashed may still be lying untouched.
The Government’s facilitation camps and these four regulator-backed portals have finally made it possible to find and reclaim that money without navigating a maze of paperwork.
If your parents ever mentioned an account they could not close, or if you suspect an old policy or investment may exist somewhere, this is the moment to check. Your money is your right. For the first time, tools exist that genuinely make it possible to get it back. Let your money find its way home.
