Now Reading: Unclaimed mutual funds, bank deposits cross ₹1 lakh crore
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Unclaimed mutual funds, bank deposits cross ₹1 lakh crore
Unclaimed mutual fund holdings rose to ₹3,811 crore at the end of FY26, while unclaimed bank deposits transferred to the RBI’s DEA Fund reached ₹98,073 crore as of January 2026, livemint.com reports.…
The Story in Brief
Unclaimed mutual fund holdings rose to ₹3,811 crore at the end of FY26, while unclaimed bank deposits transferred to the RBI’s DEA Fund reached ₹98,073 crore as of January 2026, livemint.com reports. Combined, the two categories top ₹1 lakh crore. Mutual fund unclaimed dividends jumped 15.7% to ₹2,689 crore, though redemption unclaimed slipped slightly to ₹1,122 crore.
The government says outdated contact details and forgotten accounts are the main reasons. Claimants can trace mutual fund investments via the MITRA facility on MF Central, and search for bank deposits using the RBI’s UDGAM portal. As of February 2026, ₹5,777 crore worth of claims had been returned to rightful owners across all financial assets.
The Indian Opinion
The numbers are staggering, but the real story is not about lost money, it is about a system that still depends on the account holder to act. Headlines scream of crores lying unclaimed, yet the RBI and SEBI have portals, helplines, and even monetary incentives for banks to trace owners. The missing piece is awareness: how many families know about UDGAM or MITRA? Watch the number of claims settled in the next financial year. If it stays below 10 lakh, the machinery is moving too slowly.
Sources (2): livemint.com, livemint.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
