Jammu, Nov 14 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir has registered over 17.20 lakh unclaimed accounts with an outstanding amount of Rs 465.79 crore, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to encourage banks to actively contact rightful claimants of these deposits for the return of funds in a time-bound manner.

RBI Regional Director Chandra Shekhar Azad said Jammu district alone accounts for 2,94,676 unclaimed accounts amounting to Rs 107.27 crore.

In total, the Union territory has 17,20,878 unclaimed accounts with an outstanding amount of Rs 465.79 crore, Azad said.

He urged banks to proactively contact and trace depositors and rightful claimants of these unclaimed deposits to ensure timely settlement.

He further said the RBI has launched an incentive scheme titled the “Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Assets Pay-out – Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits", under which a differential pay-out of up to 7.5 per cent of the balance in such accounts or Rs 25,000, whichever is less, will be given to banks for reactivating inoperative accounts and settling unclaimed deposits from from October 1 to September 30, 2026.

The J-K Union Territory Level Bankers’ Committee (UTLBC) organised mega settlement-cum-awareness camps simultaneously in Jammu and Srinagar to facilitate on-the-spot identification, verification and disbursement of unclaimed financial assets lying with various banks, insurance companies, pension funds, mutual funds and dividends across the UT. PTI AB SKY SKY

Unclaimed deposit resolution incentivised: banks offered differential pay out to accelerate settlement and reactivate inoperative accounts. RBI directs banks to identify, trace and return unclaimed and inoperative account funds through proactive depositor contact and verification, supported by UTLBC settlement camps. The Scheme for Facilitating Accelerated Assets Pay-out - Inoperative Accounts and Unclaimed Deposits provides a differential pay out to banks that reactivate inoperative accounts and settle unclaimed deposits within the scheme period, subject to a cap based on account balance or a fixed upper limit, to accelerate time bound settlement.