A Step Forward on Unclaimed Assets and a Call for Your Inputs on Debt Traps - Message of Sucheta Dalal - Moneylife Foundation

 MESSAGE

 

The government has launched the "Your Money, Your Right" portal, described as a unified platform for tracing unclaimed bank deposits, insurance claims, shares, dividends and mutual fund investments. At first glance, this appears to be the centralised system that we have long advocated. However, a closer look reveals that the portal is essentially a common landing page that redirects users to separate regulator-specific platforms such as RBI's UDGAM, IRDAI's Bima Bharosa, SEBI's MITRA and the IEPF portal. It is not the integrated, searchable database that was promised to the Supreme Court and sought through our public interest litigation.

That said, we do see this as movement in the right direction. When Moneylife Foundation first began highlighting the issue of unclaimed assets and the hardships faced by legal heirs and families, there was little public discussion of the problem (Read: Forgotten Wealth of Ordinary Indians: Over Rs2 Lakh Crore Locked in Unclaimed Assets). Today, the government itself acknowledges the existence of over ₹2 lakh crore of unclaimed financial assets and has launched nationwide awareness campaigns to help reconnect people with their money. This change did not happen overnight. It reflects years of advocacy, research, regulatory engagement and growing public awareness of the issue.

Our position remains unchanged. India needs a truly centralised, searchable database of unclaimed financial assets backed by standardised processes that make it easier for citizens and legal heirs to identify and recover what rightfully belongs to them. Until that happens, the journey remains incomplete.

You may wish to read my recent column explaining why the new portal is a step forward, but falls short of the centralised database that was promised: Unclaimed Assets Portal – A Landing Page, Not the Central Database Promised

Developments such as these remind us that sustained advocacy is a long-term effort. They are also a reminder that none of this work would be possible without the support of our members, readers and well-wishers.

Thank You for Supporting Our Work

Alongside these developments, one of the most encouraging outcomes of the past month has been the response to our donation matching campaign. Thanks to the generosity of our members, readers and well-wishers, the campaign received an enthusiastic response and helped raise additional resources for the Foundation's work. We are deeply grateful to everyone who chose to contribute.

Every donation, regardless of size, helps us continue our advocacy, research, counselling services, helplines and educational initiatives. Whether it is pursuing reforms on unclaimed assets, helping citizens navigate housing society disputes, providing guidance on debt distress or raising awareness about consumer rights, this work is only possible because of the support of our community.

The campaign may have concluded, but our commitment remains unchanged. Thank you for placing your trust in us and for helping us continue this work in the public interest. One area where we continue to see a growing need for intervention and guidance is the problem of debt distress arising from app-based lending and easy digital credit.

Digital Lending, Debt Traps & Your Experiences

Over the past year, Moneylife Foundation has received an increasing number of requests for guidance from individuals struggling with multiple loans, aggressive recovery practices and mounting repayment obligations. While regulators have introduced new rules for digital lending, the problem remains widespread and many borrowers continue to find themselves trapped in cycles of debt.   As part of our ongoing work in this area, we are preparing a detailed representation on digital lending, debt traps and the experiences of borrowers for submission to the RBI.   If you have taken loans through digital lending apps, struggled with repayment, faced harassment from recovery agents, or have observations that may help us better understand the issue, we would like to hear from you. Your experiences and feedback will help us identify recurring patterns and strengthen our recommendations. Please write to us at foundation@moneylife.in.   You may also want to read this recent article to better understand the growing problem of lending apps: Debt Traps on Phones: App Lenders Remain Unchecked     Recent Videos You May Have Missed   From debt traps and cyber security to markets and public affairs, here are a few recent videos from Moneylife that may be of interest.   Debt Traps on Your Phone: The Dark Side of Loan Apps Atmanirbhar India Still Needs Foreign Capital. Here's Why. CJP: Meme Revolution or Political Earthquake? 100 करोड़ पासवर्ड हैक     Stay Connected – Join Our WhatsApp Channel!   We've launched an official WhatsApp Channel to share updates on our events, seminars, workshops, counselling sessions and any other general updates directly with you.   Join here: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBWAyKGpLHIIk6yYa3t   If you don’t see updates right away, please note that notifications are turned off by default. Just tap the bell icon in the channel to turn them on — that way, you won’t miss any important announcements. You can also continue to follow our Telegram channel for updates: https://telegram.me/moneylife_foundation   Check our Free Helplines and Guides or Templates as well as our YouTube Channel, where you will find a wide repository of videos on various topics.   Video recordings of all our webinars are available on our YouTube channel and will come to your inbox regularly if you hit the subscribe button. But if you want to be notified about future events through our mailing list, you do need to be a member.     Moneylife TV & Helplines Catch up with our financial literacy work through Moneylife TV and Moneylife News Bites. Moneylife Foundation's WhatsApp number (+91 7045156415) and WhatsApp Channel. Telegram channel. Instagram   Financial Literacy Videos in Indian Languages: Credit cards Online frauds Fallacy of gold loans and more in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Tamil, all on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/moneylifetv).   Get guidance and counselling through our Legal Helpline or Credit Helpline.   Sucheta Dalal Founder-Trustee, Moneylife Foundation     Trustees: Walter Vieira, Sucheta Dalal, Debashis Basu.   Moneylife Foundation is registered with the Charity Commissioner of Mumbai, is an Affiliate member of OECD's International Network on Financial Education, is a Supporter Member of Consumers International, Development Partner of Advocates for International Development (A4ID), and is a winner of the 10th MR Pai Memorial Award.     Donations are eligible for tax benefits under Sec 80G of the Income Tax 1961 (50% tax exemption) and MLF is registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010. 80(G) Reg No: ITBA/EXM/F/EXM44/2025-26/1086010414(1) dated 13.2.26 effective til AY2031-32 | FCRA Registration No: 08378138

to Our Supporters and a Call for Your Inputs

Dear Moneylifers,

This month has brought an important development in an issue that Moneylife Foundation has been pursuing for several years — the problem of unclaimed financial assets.