(FE)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday urged financial sector regulators and various departments to speed up the refund process of unclaimed amounts to rightful owners.
The minister, who chaired the 29th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) in Mumbai, asked regulators and departments to hold special district level camps to expedite the refund process of unclaimed amounts.
She said the drive should be conducted in coordination with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) along with banks, pension agencies and insurance companies.
The unclaimed amounts comprise of deposits in banks; unclaimed shares and dividends are managed by the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA); and unclaimed insurance and pension funds are with IRDAI and PFRDA respectively.
As per the latest RBI annual report, the amount credited to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund increased by 25 per cent to Rs 97,545.12 crore at the end of FY2024-25, from Rs 78,212.53 at the end of FY 2023-24. All banks transfer unclaimed deposits to the DEA Fund maintained by the RBI.
In the meeting, Sitharaman stressed upon the need to be vigilant in the wake of the emerging trends from domestic and global macro-financial situations.
“The Council recognised the need for proactive efforts to mitigate potential risks to financial stability while adopting adequate safeguards for financial system’s resilience. The members decided to strengthen the inter-regulatory coordination for wider development of the financial sector,” according to a press release issued by PIB.
The council deliberated on issues related to macro financial stability and India’s preparedness to deal with them.
The minister urged the FSDC to take proactive steps to ensure that citizens should have a seamless experience with respect to know your customer (KYC) processes across the financial sector.
In light of the analysis of cybersecurity regulations, sectoral preparedness, and the recommendations of Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) 2024-25, the council considered strengthening the cyber resilience framework of the domestic financial sector through a financial sector-specific cybersecurity strategy.
Those attended the meeting included Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, RBI; Ajay Seth Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; M Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services; V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser; and Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairperson, SEBI.
