India holds over 1.1L/cr unclaimed funds and claiming is difficult
Business
Turns out, more than ₹1.1 lakh crore in India is just lying unclaimed, mostly in old bank accounts, stocks, and insurance policies.
Regulators like the RBI and the SEBI are supposed to keep these funds safe, but actually getting your hands on them isn't easy.
Pre-digital KYC causes paperwork hurdles
A lot of these accounts were set up before digital KYC was a thing, so messy paperwork, like spelling errors or missing nominee names, makes proving you're the rightful owner tough.
As Soumya Singh, Co-Founding Partner, Thistle&Law puts it, Claimants often have to deal with a lot of paperwork for succession and identity verification.
Even with new digital processes and awareness campaigns helping some people recover their money, most of it still remains untouched.