On Saturday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a three-month campaign called “Your Money, Your Right”.
The goal of this initiative is to return unclaimed financial assets held by banks and regulators to their rightful owners.
The Finance Minister highlighted that financial assets worth ₹1.84 lakh crore are currently unclaimed.
She emphasized that authorities must ensure these assets reach the people who actually own them.
Details About Unclaimed Assets
According to Sitharaman, these unclaimed assets include bank deposits, insurance policies, provident funds, and shares. She urged officials to focus on three key areas during the campaign:
Awareness – Inform people about unclaimed assets.
Outreach – Actively reach out to potential claimants.
Action – Ensure assets are returned to their rightful owners.
The Finance Minister explained, “Unclaimed funds are lying with banks, the RBI, or the IEPF (Investor Education and Protection Fund).
We have to find the real owners and claimants of these funds and hand over the money to them.”
She reassured the public that the amount is completely safe and can be claimed with proper documents.
She also noted that if assets remain unclaimed for a long time, they are transferred from one institution to another to ensure proper custody.
How People Can Claim Their Money
Sitharaman explained that bank deposits move from banks to the RBI, and shares or similar assets move from SEBI to the IEPF or another relevant center.
To make claiming easier, the RBI has created the UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits Gateway to Access Information) portal, where people can check and claim their funds.
She emphasized, “As soon as you make a claim, you will get your money. It’s time for all of us to spread the word about this portal.”
