Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 establishes the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund. Under sub-section (2), the amount to the credit of any account in India with a banking company which has not been operated upon for a period of ten years shall be credited to the Fund within what period from the expiry of the said ten-year period?

Section 26A(2), inserted by the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 (Act 4 of 2013) with effect from 18 January 2013, provides that the amount to the credit of any account in India with a banking company which has not been operated upon for a period of ten years, or any deposit or amount remaining unclaimed for more than ten years, shall be credited to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within a period of three months from the expiry of the said period of ten years. The proviso preserves the depositor’s right to claim the deposit or operate the account after transfer, with the banking company remaining liable to repay at RBI-specified interest. Under sub-section (3), the banking company may apply for a refund of amounts so transferred when it makes repayment. The Fund is utilised for promotion of depositors’ interests.