Where India's unclaimed money sits — and how families get it back.

More than ₹1.84 lakh crore lies unclaimed with Indian banks, insurers, funds and companies. Very little of it was stolen. Most of it simply belonged to someone whose family didn't know it existed — an old FD, a forgotten policy, shares from a job twenty years ago.

If you're reading this because your family may have money sitting somewhere, here is where it goes and how to look, in plain words.

When a bank account or FD is untouched for about ten years, the money moves to an RBI fund — but it still belongs to the customer or their heirs, and the claim always goes back through the bank. RBI runs a search portal called UDGAM (udgam.rbi.org.in) where you can search a person's name across many banks at once. If you find something, go to the bank's branch with ID, the death certificate, and proof of your relationship.

Shares and dividends that stay unclaimed for seven years move to the government's Investor Education and Protection Fund (iepf.gov.in). They can be claimed back — the family files a claim form online and sends the papers through the company. This route takes patience, but the money is not gone.

Insurers are required to publish their unclaimed amounts — most have a "check unclaimed amounts" search on their website (LIC has one too). If a policy exists, the claim starts at the branch or with the agent: claim form, death certificate, policy details, and the nominee's or heir's ID.

Provident fund from old jobs often sits forgotten. If you have the person's UAN or PF number (old salary slips help), the claim goes through the EPFO member portal or the employer's HR. A registered nominee makes this the simplest of all.

• The death certificate;
• Your ID and bank details;
• Proof of your right to claim — being the registered nominee (fastest), or heirship papers such as a legal-heir or succession certificate when there is no nominee.