Is your money lying unclaimed in banks and insurance companies?:PM announces ‘Your Money, Your Right’ scheme to return ₹78,000 crores; 6 important questions

78 thousand crore rupees are lying unclaimed in banks and financial institutions of India. Modi government has launched ‘Your Money-Your Right’ scheme to return it. On December 10, PM Modi said that this is a good opportunity to turn forgotten assets into a new opportunity. What is ‘Your Money, Your Right’ scheme, how to find out if your money is also lying unclaimed somewhere and how to get it; answers to such 6 important questions in Bhaskar explainer… Where is the unclaimed 78 thousand crore rupees lying? Unclaimed money is lying mainly in 3 places… 1. In Inactive Bank Accounts: Accounts that have had no transactions for 10 years are considered inactive. This includes all types of bank accounts including savings, current, and fixed deposits. According to RBI rules, the bank keeps this money but reviews it annually. 2. With Insurance Companies: Approximately 14 thousand crore rupees are with insurance companies, which no one has claimed. These are the funds that are payable either when the policy matures or when the policyholder’s family claims after their death. 3. Money Stuck in Mutual Funds and Shares: Mutual funds and shares pay dividends, which is money that reaches shareholders after profit distribution. If shareholders don’t claim it, the company transfers the money to a separate secure fund for up to 7 years. Around 3 thousand crore rupees in mutual funds and 9 thousand crore rupees in share dividends are lying unclaimed. What is the government’s new ‘Your Money, Your Right’ scheme? ‘Your Money, Your Right’ scheme was launched by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in October. Its purpose is to return people’s forgotten or unclaimed money back to them. This work is being done jointly by several departments including the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). They are identifying all such old outstanding money and conveying this information to their rightful owners. Recently, while promoting this scheme, Prime Minister Modi said that such money is the hard-earned income of many families that is lying unused. Therefore, the government’s aim is that every citizen should reclaim their rightful money. Modi has posted on LinkedIn appealing to people to join this scheme. Under the scheme, any person can check if there is any unclaimed money in their name or not? How to check if you also have such money in banks or schemes? If you or your family members have money in banks or schemes, there is a very easy way to check them. The Government of India has launched four types of portals for this… 1. How to check the amount deposited in bank accounts Money from accounts that have been inactive for 10 years in banks gets transferred to RBI. Follow this process to check it- 2. How to check unclaimed money in insurance To check lost or forgotten money in Life Insurance, Health Insurance and General Insurance like LIC, register at https://bimabharosa.irdai.gov.in. Follow these steps for the further process- 3. How to check unclaimed money in Mutual Funds Someone in your family may have money invested in mutual funds that hasn’t been checked or withdrawn yet. These funds become inactive after 10 years of no activity. Follow these steps to check such funds- Additionally, unclaimed mutual funds can also be tracked by visiting the official website of SEBI MITRA. 4. How to check unclaimed shares/dividends If a company’s dividend is not credited to your account for 7 years, that amount and related shares are transferred to IEPF i.e. Investor Education and Protection Fund. Follow these steps to check their status- How to claim your unclaimed money if it is deposited? The government provides facilities to check forgotten money through portals where it can also be claimed. Additionally, under the ‘Your Money, Your Right’ scheme, camps have been set up in 477 districts across the country. You can also get help claiming your money by visiting these camps. To get your unclaimed money while sitting at home, follow the process given below… 1. How to retrieve money deposited in bank accounts 2. How to get unclaimed insurance amount 3. How to get forgotten money in mutual funds 4. How to claim unclaimed shares/dividends How many people have benefited from this scheme so far? Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed in writing in the Rajya Sabha on December 9 that approximately Rs 2,000 crore of unclaimed money has been returned in the first two months of the scheme. This was also confirmed by Prime Minister Modi in his LinkedIn post. However, the number of beneficiaries has not yet been revealed. This amount has been returned from banks, insurance, mutual funds, dividends and other places. In the last 3 years before the scheme started, banks have returned more than 10 thousand crore rupees in unclaimed deposits. What will happen to the money that no one claims? If some people do not claim their pending money even after this campaign, that money will be transferred to the security fund…