Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir has recorded more than 17.20 lakh unclaimed bank accounts with outstanding deposits totaling ₹465.79 crore, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to urge banks to proactively reach out to rightful claimants and facilitate time-bound refunds.
RBI Regional Director Chandra Shekhar Azad said Jammu district alone has 2,94,676 unclaimed accounts amounting to ₹107.27 crore. Overall, the Union Territory has 17,20,878 such accounts with a cumulative outstanding of ₹465.79 crore, he added.
Azad called on banks to intensify efforts to trace depositors and legal heirs to ensure timely settlement of these balances. He also highlighted the RBI’s new incentive initiative — the Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Assets Pay-out – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits. Under this scheme, banks will receive a differential payout of up to 7.5% of the account balance or ₹25,000 (whichever is lower) for reactivating inoperative accounts and settling unclaimed deposits between October 1 and September 30, 2026.
To support this process, the J&K Union Territory Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) held large settlement-cum-awareness camps in Jammu and Srinagar, enabling on-the-spot identification, verification, and disbursement of unclaimed financial assets held across banks, insurance companies, pension and mutual funds, and dividend issuers.
