This money is lying in about 9 crore accounts, which are not operated for 10 years.
As per information received from Reserve Bank of India (reserve Bank of India), as on December 31, 2020, the total number of such accounts in Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) stood at 8,13,34,849 and the deposits in such accounts stood at Rs 24,356 crore, Sitharaman said in a reply.
Similarly, it said, the number of accounts not operated for more than 10 years with urban cooperative banks (UCBs) as on December 31, 2020 and the amount in such accounts stood at Rs 77,03,819 and Rs 2,341 crore, respectively.
“The number of deposit accounts (i.e. public deposits that have matured but unclaimed balances for 7 years including the year in which they matured) and the amount in such accounts with Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are 64 and 64 respectively. 0.71 crore. As on March 31, 2021,” he said.
As per the directions issued by RBI to banks through its Master Circular on “Customer Service in Banks”, banks are required to conduct an annual review of accounts which have no operations for more than a year, and those customers and inform them in writing that there has been no operation on their accounts and find out the reasons therefor.
“Banks have also been advised to consider initiating a special drive to trace the whereabouts of customers/legal heirs in respect of accounts which have become inoperative, i.e., where within a period of two years There is no transaction in the account,” he said. said.
Further, he said, banks need to display the list of unclaimed deposit/dormant accounts, which are dormant/dormant for ten years or more, on their respective websites, along with the list containing the names and addresses of the account holders. Is. of unclaimed deposits/inoperative accounts.
With regard to the action taken on deposits in such accounts, he said, in accordance with the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and insertion of section 26A in the said Act, RBI formulated the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) Scheme, 2014 Is. ,
As per the scheme, banks calculate the cumulative balance in all accounts which are not operated for a period of 10 years or more (or no amount is claimed for 10 years or more) with interest and transfer such amount to DEAF. ,
“DEAF is used to promote the interests of the depositors and for such other purposes as may be necessary to promote the interests of the depositors as may be specified by RBI. In case of demand from a customer In whose deposit amount was transferred to DEAF, banks will have to repay the customer along with interest, if any, and file a claim for refund from DEAF,” he said.
Replying to another query, he said, RBI has authorized the Boards of each of the Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) as per its Master Circular to determine the interest rate taking into account relevant factors such as cost of funds, margin and risk premium. Adopt and determine the model. The rate of interest charged for loans and advances.
The rates of interest and approach for classification of risks, and penal interest are to be disclosed to the borrowers in the application form, and in the sanction letter apart from making available on their website or published in newspapers.
In addition, HFCs have been advised to put in place an internal mechanism to monitor the process and operations so as to ensure adequate transparency in communication with borrowers.