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News Topical, Digital Desk : In the last one-two years, information has come from many parts of the country that how fraudsters have used dormant bank accounts in banks and transferred money from the accounts of customers who were victims of banking fraud. It is possible that the central bank has taken this information very seriously and has decided to prepare new rules for the use of dormant bank accounts and their deposits. Last week, it released a draft of these new rules and has sought opinion from the general public on this.
RBI is looking at this as a problem
After receiving suggestions from the people, new rules are likely to be implemented in the next six months which will further increase the alertness of banks regarding monitoring of inactive bank accounts. The gist of the new rule is that banks cannot show any leniency in monitoring these inactive bank accounts. Now they will have to constantly monitor these accounts and review them every year. A bank account will be declared inactive only if there is no transaction from the bank customer for two years.
According to the data of November 2024, the number of inactive accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) alone is 11.30 crores. In other words, out of every five to six bank accounts opened under PMJDY, one becomes inactive. RBI is looking at this as a problem.
Banks started uploading account details on their websites
In January and November last year, RBI had specifically urged banks to launch special campaigns to reduce the number of inactive bank accounts and to reach out to the customers of these bank accounts or to reach out to the nominees of these accounts. Some work was also done at the level of banks. Some banks have started putting the details of these accounts on their websites but there has been no significant reduction in the number of inactive accounts. On the other hand, online fraud gangs have their eyes on these bank accounts.
RBI has said that it is necessary to keep a separate eye on dormant bank accounts and they should also be kept separate from normal bank accounts so that any possibility of fraud can be eliminated. Even if the dormant bank account has been reactivated, banks have been told to quietly keep an eye on the transactions of these accounts for at least six months. It has also been said that the amount deposited in these accounts should be separately audited. The responsibility of banks is being increased in the new rules of RBI.
Instructions to try every option
Banks have been told to monitor all bank accounts annually in which there has been no transaction for a year or more. After this, every possible effort should be made by the bank to contact the customer. For this, instructions will be given to try every option from writing a letter to sending an e-mail. Banks will tell the customers that if they do not transact or inform the bank within a certain period, their accounts will be declared inactive.
If the letter is returned or the bank does not receive any information from the customer, then the bank will conduct a separate investigation to identify the account holder or if the customer is dead, then the process of identifying his nominee will begin. If the account holder informs that he will not operate the account, then his account will not be declared inactive. But if he does not operate the account for another year despite informing the bank, then after one year it will be declared inactive.
Interest will be paid even if the account is deactivated
Along with this rule, RBI has also clarified that interest will continue to be paid whether the bank account is inactive or not. The rule of levying additional charge in case there is no minimum balance in it will not be applicable here and no additional charge will be taken from the customer for reactivating the inactive account.
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