Rs 815 Crore Sits Unclaimed in J&K Banks' Accounts: How to Check and Claim Yours

Rs 814.54 crore. That is the amount four banks operating in Jammu and Kashmir had moved into the Reserve Bank of India's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund as of 30 June 2026, according to bank-wise data from the Union Finance Ministry reported by Greater Kashmir. It is money that belongs to people, and a lot of it may belong to someone in your family.

The numbers

• J&K Bank: Rs 780.25 crore
• J&K Grameen Bank: Rs 26.29 crore
• Citizens' Cooperative Bank Ltd, Jammu: Rs 5.15 crore
• J&K State Cooperative Bank: Rs 2.85 crore

Nationally the DEA Fund held Rs 86,917.08 crore, led by SBI (Rs 20,040.44 crore), PNB and Canara Bank; J&K Bank ranked 18th on the national list. The report stresses that the J&K figure counts only these deposits in the fund. It is not the total in all dormant accounts, and the data does not say how much belongs to deceased depositors, how many accounts are involved or which districts they sit in.

When does an account become "unclaimed"?

Under RBI directions as reported, a savings or current account becomes inoperative after more than two years with no customer-initiated transaction. That is not yet "unclaimed". The balance is classified as an unclaimed deposit when it stays unclaimed for ten years, and term deposits that remain unclaimed for ten years after maturity are also covered. Banks then transfer the eligible balance to the DEA Fund.

Is the money gone?

No. The transfer does not mean the depositor forfeits the money; it remains payable to the rightful holder or eligible claimant, and banks can seek reimbursement from the fund after settling a valid claim.

How to search and claim

1. Search. RBI's UDGAM portal lets you search for unclaimed deposits across participating banks. You register and give identifying details. It is a search tool, not a payout tool.
2. Try the common portal. The Department of Financial Services launched a Common Landing Portal for Unclaimed Financial Assets on 29 May 2026 at unclaimedassetsportal.in. It covers bank deposits, insurance claims, shares, dividends and mutual funds.
3. Go to the bank. Once you find a likely deposit, approach that bank with identity and address documents and follow its verification and claim procedure.
4. If the holder has died. Nominees and legal heirs can apply, subject to the bank's documentation and verification requirements.

Why this matters if you're young

Old accounts are easy to forget: a school scholarship account, a first fixed deposit, an account a grandparent opened in your name, or a relative's savings after a move or a death. Missing nominations, changed phone numbers and lost documents are the usual reasons families never find them. Ask at home whether anyone had accounts that were never closed, then run each name through UDGAM.

The RBI has directed banks to run periodic drives to trace depositors and legal heirs, publish and update lists of unclaimed deposits and contact holders where details exist.

Sources

• Greater Kashmir, 10 October 2026, citing Union Finance Ministry data
• Common Landing Portal for Unclaimed Financial Assets
• RBI UDGAM portal

Image: file photo of Mubarak Mandi Complex, Jammu, Pragyana Mehrotra, Wikimedia Commons.