Archive · 5 Oct 2026
RBI Dormant Account Rules: Reactivation and Unclaimed Money
A bank account can become inactive if its owner does not make a qualifying transaction for more than two years.
This does not mean the money is gone.
The account holder can contact the bank and complete the required identity checks to reactivate it.
RBI guidance says the bank should activate it within three working days after those checks are complete.
If money goes unclaimed for 10 years, the bank transfers it to a fund managed by the RBI.
The rightful owner or beneficiary can still ask the bank to return the money.
The UDGAM website can help people find forgotten deposits.
People must make the actual claim through the bank, and banks should not charge to reactivate an account.
A savings or current account becomes inoperative after more than two years without customer-induced transactions.
Bank charges and interest credited by the bank generally do not count as customer-induced transactions.
Customers can request reactivation by completing the bank’s KYC and due-diligence process; RBI guidance says activation should occur within three working days afterward.
Deposits unclaimed for 10 years are transferred to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund, but can still be claimed through the bank.
The UDGAM portal helps users locate unclaimed deposits, while claims must be filed with the relevant bank; banks should not charge for reactivation.
- Who
- Bank customers and beneficiaries, banks, and the Reserve Bank of India.
- What
- RBI rules cover when accounts become inoperative, how they can be reactivated, and how to claim long-unclaimed deposits.
- When
- Accounts become inoperative after more than two years without customer-induced transactions; deposits are transferred after remaining unclaimed for 10 years.
- Where
- At the relevant bank, including its non-home branches for KYC updation; UDGAM can be used to search across participating banks.
- Why
- To explain how customers can reactivate inactive accounts and recover funds that remain unclaimed.
- Inoperative threshold
- More than two years without customer-induced transactions.
- Transactions generally excluded
- Bank charges and interest credited by the bank.
- Reactivation timeline
- Within three working days after required KYC and due diligence are completed, according to RBI financial-awareness guidance.
- Unclaimed-deposit transfer
- Deposits unclaimed for 10 years are transferred by banks to the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.
- How to claim
- The rightful account holder or beneficiary makes a claim through the concerned bank.
- UDGAM portal
- Helps search for unclaimed deposits across participating banks; it does not settle claims.
- Reactivation charge
- Banks should not charge customers to activate an inoperative account.