New Delhi, May 5 (PTI) The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access Information (UDGAM) portal facilitates the registered user to search unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.

The submissions were made before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi which was hearing a plea filed by journalist Sucheta Dalal seeking a direction to set up a mechanism to inform the legal heirs of deceased depositors about the unclaimed deposits lying dormant in bank accounts.

The counsel appearing for the RBI informed the bench that around 44 lakh searches have been made on UDGAM, which is an interactive portal.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, said the issue is how does the legal heirs of deceased depositors find out about the unclaimed deposits lying in bank accounts.

He argued while the RBI has said that they have asked all the banks to put the details on the UDGAM portal, deposits were also being made in post offices and insurance.

"Nothing has been done to integrate them," Bhushan said, adding that the mechanism should be such that legal heirs can find out all these details in one search.

The counsel representing the Centre told the bench that they have prepared an updated affidavit which would be filed in the court.

The bench asked the Centre to file the updated affidavit giving the relevant details within a week and posted the matter for hearing on May 19.

While hearing the plea on March 17, the top court asked the Centre and the RBI why details of bank accounts of deceased persons could not be disclosed to heirs, and said the government must come up with a policy on the issue.

Bhushan had argued that the RBI had also recommended the need to have a "centralised and searchable database" so that people can trace the accounts of their deceased parents.

Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for the Centre, had said if a genuine heir comes forward, the amount was refunded to them from the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.

The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund, established by the RBI in 2014, holds unclaimed deposits from commercial and co-operative banks.

The apex court had earlier asked the Finance Ministry to file its response to the PIL seeking directions to create a centralised database providing information about bank accounts, insurance, deposits and post office funds lying in accounts held by those who are no longer alive.

The plea has also sought a direction to establish a procedure that eliminates unnecessary litigation while dealing with claims of legal heirs qua bank deposits, insurance, post office funds, etc.

The plea said that the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund had Rs 39,264.25 crore at the end of March 2021, up from Rs 33,114 crore on 31 March, 2020 and a sharp rise from Rs 18,381 crore at the end of March 2019.

The petition stated there is an urgent need to develop a centralised online database under the control of RBI that will provide information about the deceased account holder, including such details as the name, address and last date of transaction by the deceased account holder. PTI ABA ABA KVK KVK