Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Unclaimed Provident Fund accounts might be Blocked

As per the latest report by Business Line, close to Rs 10000 Crore lying in approximately 2 Crore inoperative accounts might be blocked. The interest from these inoperative accounts might also get distributed to the live accounts. This proposal and other decisions like Interest Rate for the current fiscal (for EPF accounts) will be decided in a CBT meeting to held in September.
A senior EPFO official told Business Line that the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPFO is expected to take up this issue at its meeting in September. With many shifting jobs and neither closing their accounts nor transferring them to the new employer, more than 40 per cent of the total accounts has gone inoperative. Moreover, the unclaimed fund has grown over time with the 8.5 per cent interest paid on the principal by the agency.

More at -

http://technofriends.in/2010/08/01/unclaimed-provident-fund-accounts-might-be-blocked-india/


We can help you in claiming the funds lying in bank accounts or shares if the shareholder is deceased and you are a legal heir. We can provide you our services of tracing the assets and initiating the legal procedures in India to claim the same.

In order to contact us, please go to our website www.fundtracers.com and contact through that site. or email at fundtracers@fundtracers.com or fund.tracers@gmail.com

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Banks can not declare your account inoperative

If you have a bank account that you have not operated for a long time, it is absolutely essential that you know the Reserve Bank’s instructions on ‘inoperative accounts’. That’s because there is every possibility of your bank flouting those instructions and declaring your account as ‘inoperative’ without giving you any notice and even dishonouring your cheques issued on that account. So in order to protect your interests, you need to


know what exactly the regulator says. First and foremost, the Reserve Bank says an account (both savings and current) can be treated as ‘inoperative’ or ‘dormant’ only if there are no customer-induced transactions in the account for more than two years.
It also makes it clear that if interest from a fixed deposit is being credited into the account, then it should be considered as customer-induced transaction and should not be considered as a dormant account.

More important, the RBI circular on “Unclaimed deposits/Inoperative accounts in banks”, issued on August 22, 2008 to all scheduled commercial banks urges banks to be pro-active and contact customers whose accounts have remained inoperative for over a year and find out why there are no transactions.

In many cases, accounts remain dormant when consumers change their residence or place of work. There are also consumers who keep accounts in their hometown and do not operate them regularly.

So the RBI circular asks banks to not only contact customers who have not operated their account for a long time, but also transfer the money in the account to the new account of the customer, if the customer has shifted residence (or changed the job) and opened an account in another bank.

The Reserve Bank also mandates that banks inform customers before declaring an account as dormant and give the account holder sufficient time to operate the account. It’s only when all such efforts fail, should an account be declared as inoperative.

If the customer contacts the bank after an account is declared as dormant, the bank should facilitate reactivation of the account after verifying the signature and the identity of the account holder.

While doing so, the bank should ensure that the customer is not inconvenienced and there should not be any charge for activation, the RBI says.

Yet, you find banks exploiting the ignorance of consumers about these guidelines and violating them with impunity. Here is an example


More at -
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/PUBLICATIONS/HT/HD/2010/07/18/ArticleHtmls/Consumer-Focus-Banks-cant-declare-your-account-inoperative-18072010007002.shtml?Mode=1


We can help you in claiming the funds lying in bank accounts or shares if the shareholder is deceased and you are a legal heir. We can provide you our services of tracing the assets and initiating the legal procedures in India to claim the same.

In order to contact us, please go to our website www.fundtracers.com and contact through that site. or email at fundtracers@fundtracers.com

Thursday, January 7, 2010

No takers for Rs 1,200 cr with banks

Unclaimed deposits on the rise at banks.


MUMBAI: Unclaimed deposits worth Rs 1,188 crore are lying with Indian banks in 1.92 crore inactive or dormant accounts as of December '08, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India recently.

Though they continue to remain in the banks' books as liabilities there is no one claiming ownership for these accounts.

An account is classified as ‘dormant’ if there are no transactions for more than two years. Money lying in these accounts are classified as unclaimed deposits if no one comes forward to claim ownership for at least 10 years.

More at.....

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/No-takers-for-Rs-1200-cr-with-banks/articleshow/5320658.cms


In case any one needs more information regarding unclaimed dividends or shares, write to us at
fund.tracers@gmail.com.