NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning unclaimed financial assets in the country, which are estimated to be worth approximately Rs 3.50 lakh crore.
The plea sought directions to the Union government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other authorities to formulate a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the identification, reconciliation, and restitution of unclaimed financial assets in India to their rightful owners or heirs.
Issuing notice, a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought responses of the Centre, SEBI, IRDAI, EPFO, National Saving Institute, and others in the matter.
As per the PIL, unclaimed financial assets, comprising dormant bank accounts, unclaimed dividends, matured insurance proceeds, unpaid provident fund balances, unutilised mutual fund units, etc., are scattered across multiple financial institutions with no unified mechanism to locate or claim them.