How to claim unclaimed deposits and investments? A step-by-step guide

livemint.com:

Did you know that a whopping total of ₹42,272 crore are sitting with banks as unclaimed deposits as of the end of March 2023, and around ₹2,637.94 crore of unclaimed dividends and units are lying with mutual fund (MF) houses?

The shares, dividends, and debentures that have remained unclaimed for seven years or more get transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), a repository set up under the Companies Act of 1956. Deposits and interest left unclaimed for over 10 years in inactive bank accounts are transferred to the RBI Depositor Education Awareness Fund (DEA Fund).

Also Read:RBI issues guidelines on bank classification of unclaimed deposits

In this article, we will see the main causes behind this staggering number and how individuals like you and me can navigate this maze and claim our unclaimed deposits and investments.

There are various reasons behind this huge number of unclaimed deposits/investments. In the case of bank deposits, it is mainly because depositors don't close the savings/current accounts that they don't operate anymore or don't make redemption claims for matured fixed deposits. In addition, nominees/ legal heirs do not come forward to make a claim.

Vikash Jain, Co-Founder at Share Samadhan, believes that Indian families' not sharing their financial details with family members is one of the main reasons. 

“The first reason is investors often hesitate to share complete investment details with their families and in the case of emergencies, family members struggle to identify and retrieve investments. The second reason is people change their addresses without informing the relevant investment companies which leads to difficulties in communication and access to investments. The third