Unclaimed Funds: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Central Government to evolve a mechanism to make available the unclaimed amount of over Rs 40,000 crore to the rightful legal heirs of deceased investors, depositors and account holders. A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari sought response from the central government, RBI and others on the plea of journalist Sucheta Dalal, saying that the issue was important.
The petition, filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, also raised issues related to the need for a centralized data website governed by the RBI to provide basic details of deceased bank account holders and facilitate the process of claiming funds from dormant accounts by legal heirs. Be it The petition has sought directions to ensure that the money is transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF), Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) and the Fund in the event of non-claim of deposits by legal heirs or nominees. To be transferred to the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund (SCWF).
Simultaneously, the information of the holders of dormant accounts on a centralized online database should be made available to the legal heirs/nominees. The petition states that the information of deceased investors, whose deposits, debentures, dividends, insurance and post office funds etc. have been transferred to IEPF, is not readily available on the website.
Unclaimed amount increased more than double in two years
The petition states that the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) had an amount of Rs 39,264.25 crore at the end of March, 2021, as against Rs 33,114 crore as on March 31, 2020 and only Rs 18,381 crore as on March 31, 2019. . That is, in two years this amount increased more than two times. At the same time, the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) started from Rs 400 crore in 1999, which was 10 times more than Rs 4100 crore at the end of March 2020.
what is DEAF
Under the RBI guidelines, the money of such individual bank accounts in which there has been no transaction for 10 years in DEAF is deposited in this fund. At the same time, the money on which there is no claim for ten years or more is also deposited in this fund. The fund was set up by the Reserve Bank in 2014. At the same time, money from business accounts is deposited in IEPF.
middlemen steal the commission
The IEPF authority publishes on its website the names of those whose money has been transferred to the fund. However, many technical glitches come to the fore while accessing the website. As a result, people have to resort to middlemen or agents to get the funds, who charge a commission of 20 to 50 per cent of the amount.
Elections will continue through EVMs
The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of the Representation of the People Act that led to the introduction of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in place of ballot papers for elections in the country. A bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sundaresh declined to entertain the petition challenging Section-61A of the 1951 Act.
Petitioner advocate Manohar Lal Sharma submitted that Article 100 deals with voting in the Houses, the power of the Houses to act irrespective of vacancies and the quorum. Sharma said, I have challenged Section-61A of the Representation of the People Act that it has not been passed through voting in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. But the bench dismissed the petition saying it lacked merit.
Reply summoned from Center and ONGC in Barmer oil field case
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s response in a matter related to the production sharing contract (PSC) of Vedanta and ONGC for producing oil from Rajasthan’s Barmer oil field. Vedanta Ltd has moved the apex court against the March 26 decision of the division bench of the Delhi High Court. The division bench had set aside a single bench order directing the Center to produce oil from the Barmer oil field along with Vedanta Ltd and ONGC by 2030.
Information about the formation of Haj committees sought from the states
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the states to inform about the status of constitution of Haj committees within two weeks. A bench of Justices SA Nazeer and JK Maheshwari asked the states to give information about the names of the members of the committee. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that several states have not filed compliance reports, following which the bench passed these directions.
Expansion
Unclaimed Funds: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Central Government to evolve a mechanism to make available the unclaimed amount of over Rs 40,000 crore to the rightful legal heirs of deceased investors, depositors and account holders. A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and JK Maheshwari sought response from the central government, RBI and others on the plea of journalist Sucheta Dalal, saying that the issue was important.
The petition, filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, also raised issues related to the need for a centralized data website governed by the RBI to provide basic details of deceased bank account holders and facilitate the process of claiming funds from dormant accounts by legal heirs. Be it The petition has sought directions to ensure that the money is transferred to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF), Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) and the Fund in the event of non-claim of deposits by legal heirs or nominees. To be transferred to the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund (SCWF).
Simultaneously, the information of the holders of dormant accounts on a centralized online database should be made available to the legal heirs/nominees. The petition states that the information of deceased investors, whose deposits, debentures, dividends, insurance and post office funds etc. have been transferred to IEPF, is not readily available on the website.
Unclaimed amount increased more than double in two years
The petition states that the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) had an amount of Rs 39,264.25 crore at the end of March, 2021, as against Rs 33,114 crore as on March 31, 2020 and only Rs 18,381 crore as on March 31, 2019. . That is, in two years this amount increased more than two times. At the same time, the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) started from Rs 400 crore in 1999, which was 10 times more than Rs 4100 crore at the end of March 2020.
what is DEAF
Under the RBI guidelines, the money of such individual bank accounts in which there has been no transaction for 10 years in DEAF is deposited in this fund. At the same time, the money on which there is no claim for ten years or more is also deposited in this fund. The fund was set up by the Reserve Bank in 2014. At the same time, money from business accounts is deposited in IEPF.
middlemen steal the commission
The IEPF authority publishes on its website the names of those whose money has been transferred to the fund. However, many technical glitches come to the fore while accessing the website. As a result, people have to resort to middlemen or agents to get the funds, who charge a commission of 20 to 50 per cent of the amount.