Despite the ‘Your Money Your Right’ campaign, only three percent of the amount was returned.

• Unclaimed deposits increased from Rs 27,824 to Rs 67,004 crore
• More than 85% of the money is stuck in public sector banks.

New Delhi. The amount of unclaimed bank deposits in the country is continuously increasing and this figure has now reached worrying levels. According to official data, the idle amount lying in banks has increased to Rs 67,004 crore by June 30, 2025, from Rs 27,824 crore in the financial year 2020-21. This means that this amount has more than doubled in just five years. Despite the ‘Your Money Your Right’ campaign being run by the Central Government and banks, only a small part of this huge amount has been able to reach back to the account holders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had informed in December 2025 that under the campaign, an amount of about Rs 2,000 crore has been returned to the people, which is only about three percent of the total unclaimed deposits. Although this figure has increased further in the subsequent progress, but the recovery is still very limited in comparison to the total deposits. This campaign was started in October 2025, with the aim of getting people back the money lying in their inactive bank accounts. Both public and private sector banks were included in this initiative. Also, emphasis has been laid on simplifying the claim process and increasing awareness among the people.

Banks have been instructed to inform customers through SMS and email and make the claim process easy through online mode. The dominance of public sector banks in unclaimed deposits is clearly visible. According to statistics, about 85 to 87 percent of the total inactive deposits are deposited in these banks. The main reason for this is the large customer base of these banks and years old inactive accounts. Experts believe that the recovery process in these banks remains relatively slow due to the challenge of large-scale data management and tracking of accounts.

Many reasons are responsible behind this problem. Often, change of address of the account holder, forgetting the account details or lack of information to the heirs after the death of the account holder leads to the amount remaining unclaimed. Additionally, accounts with small balances also remain inactive for long periods of time and interest gets added to them over time, increasing the total amount.

According to experts, lack of awareness is also a big challenge. Still a large number of people do not know how they can get their inactive deposits back. This is the reason why despite campaigns like ‘Your Money Your Right’, huge amount of money is still lying in the banks. The government is preparing to take more steps in this direction. Banks have been instructed to identify inoperative accounts and proactively contact the account holders or their families. Also, consideration is being given to better linking KYC data and developing a centralized system, which can make verification of claims easier and reduce the chances of fraud.

This issue is also important from economic point of view. If this idle money reaches back to the people in time, it can boost consumption and investment. At the same time, managing inoperative accounts creates additional administrative burden and compliance challenges for banks. Overall, the rapid increase in unclaimed deposits and slow recovery indicate that campaigns alone will not suffice. This requires continuous awareness, technological improvements and better coordination between bank and customer, so that people can get their hard earned money back on time and trust in the banking system is further strengthened.