The UDGAM portal is a step towards financial inclusion but remains incomplete as a grievance redressal mechanism. Critically examine.

Q. The UDGAM portal is a step towards financial inclusion but remains incomplete as a grievance redressal mechanism. Critically examine. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Unclaimed bank deposits — savings accounts not operated for ten years or term deposits unclaimed ten years past maturity — are transferred to the RBI's Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund under Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 [2]. RBI's UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access InforMation) portal marks genuine progress in restoring these funds to citizens, yet it stops short of being a complete redressal architecture.

As an instrument of financial inclusion - Centralised search: replaces bank-by-bank enquiry with a single window; 30 banks are integrated, covering about 90% of DEA Fund deposits by value [1]. - Reaching the excluded: chiefly benefits legal heirs of deceased depositors, NRIs, migrant workers and the elderly with multiple dormant accounts [1]. - Scale of the corpus: PSB transfers to the DEA Fund stood at ₹60,518 crore (Feb 28, 2026); reuniting idle balances with households adds to their wealth [3]. - Whole-of-government push: RBI, IRDAI and SEBI, through an Inter-Regulatory Working Group, are building a single portal spanning deposits, insurance and mutual funds; 18.86 lakh users were registered by March 2026 [3].

Where it falls short of redressal - Search-only design: the portal only locates deposits; the claim must still be filed with the respective bank, leaving settlement delays, succession-certificate demands and documentation burdens untouched [1]. - Coverage gap: the residual tenth of DEA Fund value — largely smaller and co-operative banks — remains outside the search net [1]. - No accountability loop: there is no built-in escalation, timeline or appeal for a rejected claim; recourse still lies outside the portal. - Awareness deficit: registered users remain a fraction of affected households, limiting the transparency gain.

UDGAM therefore succeeds as a disclosure tool while redressal still rests on legacy bank processes. Completing it requires end-to-end digital claim filing with defined turnaround times, integration of the remaining co-operative banks, simplified heir-verification norms, and sustained outreach of the kind seen in the DFS "Your Money, Your Right" camps across 748 districts [3]. Such a shift would convert a search window into a full depositor-rights guarantee, advancing the inclusive-growth mandate.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. FAQs on UDGAM Portal — Reserve Bank of India — portal purpose, 30 banks covering ~90% of DEA Fund value, search-only (claims filed with the bank), beneficiary categories 2. FAQs on the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund Scheme, 2014 — Reserve Bank of India — Section 26A, Banking Regulation Act, 1949; ten-year unclaimed threshold 3. RBI, IRDAI and SEBI Intensify Measures to Help Citizens Reclaim Unclaimed Deposits — PIB — ₹60,518 crore PSB corpus (Feb 28, 2026), 18.86 lakh UDGAM users, Inter-Regulatory Working Group, "Your Money, Your Right" campaign in 748 districts