Regulatory Proposal · August 2025
National Unclaimed Assets Registry
NUAR
A proposal to build unified infrastructure that reunites ₹3 lakh crore+ in unclaimed Indian family wealth with its rightful owners — through one search, one claim, one status update.
The Problem
₹3 lakh crore sitting unclaimed
India has a hidden crisis: tens of millions of family wealth sits unclaimed across 8 separate government and regulator-operated portals. When a person dies, moves, or simply forgets — their shares, bank deposits, insurance policies, and provident fund accounts go dormant. No one tells the family. No one finds them automatically.
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₹70,000 Cr
in IEPF (equity + dividends)
IEPF Annual Report 2025
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₹42,000 Cr
in RBI DEAF (dormant deposits)
RBI Annual Report 2025
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₹2,00,000 Cr+
estimated in insurance + PF + MCA
IRDAI / EPFO estimates
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8 Siloed portals
families must check separately
IEPF / UDGAM / EPFO / IRDAI / MCA / CAMS / NSDL / India Post
The 8 portals a family must manually check today
IEPF
Equity shares & dividends
MCA / IEPF Authority
UDGAM
Bank deposits (30+ banks)
RBI
Bima Bharosa
Unclaimed insurance amounts
IRDAI
EPFO UAN
Inoperative PF accounts
Ministry of Labour
CAMS / KFintech
Mutual fund folios & dividends
SEBI / AMFI
MCA21
Company deposits & debentures
MCA
India Post
Post office savings & RD
India Post / DoP
NPS CRA
Frozen NPS PRAN accounts
PFRDA
Each portal has a different UI, different search parameters, different document requirements. A grieving family cannot navigate all 8. Most do not even know all 8 exist.
The Proposal
NUAR: One registry, all portals
We propose a National Unclaimed Assets Registry (NUAR) — a regulatory infrastructure layer, not a product. NUAR is the standard that all custodians (IEPF, RBI, IRDAI, EPFO, AMFI, MCA) implement. Any portal, fintech, or bank can then build on top of it.
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Unified search API
One API endpoint. Every asset class. All portals respond to a standard query by PAN, name, or Aadhaar. Families search once — not eight times across eight sites.
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Heir discovery protocol
Legal heir certificates, death certificates, and nominee KYC are accepted once via DigiLocker and pushed to all relevant custodians automatically — no repeated paperwork.
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Proactive notification layer
When an account goes dormant or a dividend goes unclaimed, the custodian notifies the nominee or registered mobile. Proactive push — not reactive search.
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Claim status dashboard
Every filed claim gets a NUAR claim ID. Status updates from the custodian flow back to the claimant automatically — no need to call helplines or visit branches.
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Open-source reference implementation
Virasat publishes the NUAR aggregator spec and connectors as open source. Any fintech or bank can implement it. The standard is free; trust is maintained through regulation.
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Regulatory oversight dashboard
SEBI / MCA / RBI see real-time dashboards: how many claims filed, resolution rates, avg time-to-payout per custodian. Accountability built in.
Architecture
How NUAR works
Family / Claimant
Searches once: name + PAN or Aadhaar. Submits heir documents via DigiLocker once.
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NUAR API (open standard)
Routes query to all registered custodians. Aggregates results. Returns unified claim ID.
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Custodians (8 portals)
IEPF, UDGAM, Bima Bharosa, EPFO, CAMS/KFintech, MCA21, India Post, NPS CRA — all implement the NUAR standard API.
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Regulatory Dashboard
SEBI / MCA / RBI see resolution rates, average payout time, and outstanding unclaimed amounts per custodian in real time.
Why Now
The conditions are right
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Aging India
India's elderly population will double by 2050. Inheritance disputes and lost assets will scale proportionally. The infrastructure must be built now.
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Digital India momentum
DigiLocker, UPI, ONDC, AA framework — India has proven it can build open financial infrastructure at scale. NUAR is the natural next layer.
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Regulatory window
SEBI 2025 Investor Charter explicitly commits to "reducing unclaimed assets." The political will exists. The technical spec does not. We are proposing it.
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Private sector readiness
Fintechs like Virasat, banks, and insurance aggregators will build on NUAR immediately. The public-private partnership model is proven in UPI, GSTN, and DigiLocker.
Roadmap
Proposed implementation timeline
Phase 1 (2025–26)
Reference implementation
- Open-source NUAR aggregator published (GitHub)
- Virasat goes live as first NUAR-compatible consumer
- Pilot with 2–3 cooperating portals (IEPF + UDGAM + Bima Bharosa)
- Independent security audit
Phase 2 (2026)
Regulatory endorsement
- SEBI / MCA working group on NUAR spec
- DigiLocker integration for heir document submission
- Mandate for all 8 portal operators to expose NUAR-compatible API
- Pilot heir-discovery flow with IEPF + one major insurer
Phase 3 (2026–27)
Full ecosystem launch
- NUAR.gov.in launched as public-facing portal (or on virasat.co.in/nuar)
- All 8 portals integrated
- Proactive SMS / DigiLocker notification to nominees
- NUAR claim ID issued for every filing — status trackable online
Who We Are Talking To
Regulatory outreach
NUAR requires regulatory mandate, not just a private-sector product. We are initiating conversations with:
SEBI OIAA
Office of Investor Assistance & Education
Role: Lead regulator for investor protection. IEPF authority sits under MCA but SEBI has joint interest in equity-side unclaimed amounts.
Our ask: Champion NUAR as part of the SEBI 2025–30 Investor Protection roadmap. Commission a working group.
MCA / Ministry of Corporate Affairs
IEPF Authority, MCA21 Custodian
Role: Direct custodian of IEPF. Controls the company-side MCA21 portal. Policy authority for the Companies Act amendments needed for NUAR.
Our ask: Open the IEPF API for programmatic search. Require companies to submit dormancy notifications to NUAR.
Ministry of Finance / DFS
Department of Financial Services
Role: Supervises RBI (UDGAM / DEAF), IRDAI (Bima Bharosa), and PFRDA (NPS). Can mandate cross-regulator coordination via Finance Ministry directive.
Our ask: Issue a DFS circular requiring all custodians (banks, insurers, pension funds) to expose a standard unclaimed-assets API by 2026.
Virasat's Role
We are proposer and reference implementor
Virasat is not a government entity. We are a fintech building India's family wealth intelligence platform. Our role in NUAR:
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Build and open-source the NUAR aggregator spec and connector implementations. Any developer can take this and build on it. We don't own the standard — we're proposing it.
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Run the first live NUAR-compatible consumer portal at virasat.co.in/recover — proving the spec works end-to-end with real portals.
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Advocate with regulators, present at SEBI / MCA investor forums, publish the proposal publicly so the community can pressure-test and improve it.
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Partner with banks, insurers, and RTAs who want to be early NUAR-compliant implementors — showing the ecosystem is ready before we ask regulators to mandate it.
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Help us make NUAR real
If you work at SEBI, MCA, RBI, a major bank, insurer, or fintech — and want to collaborate on building this infrastructure — we want to hear from you.
Proposal by Vinit Metange, Founder — Virasat Technologies · vinit.metange30@gmail.com
Statistics sourced from IEPF Annual Report 2025, RBI Annual Report 2025, and IRDAI / EPFO public disclosures. NUAR is a proposal by Virasat Technologies — not an official government initiative. We are advocates, not regulators.