Lost Your Fixed Deposit Receipt? How to Get a Duplicate FDR Issued in India (2026)

By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Sep 14, 2026 · 5 min

Losing a fixed deposit receipt doesn't put the money at risk — the FDR is a paper acknowledgment, not a negotiable instrument, and the deposit stays recorded against your account regardless of the physical certificate. Getting a duplicate means a written request, a stamped and notarised indemnity bond, and a modest fee, taking a few days to about a week depending on deposit size. Joint holders must all sign the indemnity together. Most banks now issue e-FDRs by default through net banking, quietly making the lost-receipt problem rare for new deposits.

Misplace a fixed deposit receipt and the instinctive worry is that the money is gone with it. It isn't. An FDR is a paper acknowledgment of a deposit the bank already holds against your account — losing the paper doesn't touch the deposit itself, and every bank has a standard process to issue a duplicate. Here's exactly what that process involves, what it costs, and why it matters less than it used to for anyone with a newer FD.

The Deposit Is Safe — the Receipt Is Just a Record

A fixed deposit receipt is not a negotiable instrument at most Indian banks — it's typically issued marked 'not transferable' or 'not negotiable,' which means a stranger who finds it can't simply walk into a branch and encash it. The actual deposit is recorded against your account number in the bank's core system, tied to your KYC and nomination details, regardless of whether the physical or digital receipt exists in your hand. Losing the paper is an inconvenience to sort out, not a risk to the principal or the interest already accrued.

How to Get a Duplicate FDR Issued

1. Inform the bank in writing as soon as you notice the receipt is missing — a letter or a form available at the branch or on net banking, stating the FD account number, deposit amount, and opening date.
2. Execute an indemnity bond — a signed undertaking that you'll bear responsibility if the original receipt turns up later or is misused. This has to be on stamp paper of the value your state's stamp law prescribes, and most banks ask for it to be notarised.
3. For jointly held deposits, every joint holder must sign the request and the indemnity bond — a single holder's signature isn't enough even if only one person misplaced the paper.
4. The bank verifies your KYC and deposit details against its records, then issues a duplicate FDR — physical or, increasingly, as a PDF e-receipt sent to your registered email or downloadable from net banking.
5. Pay the bank's nominal duplicate-issuance fee, if applicable — most large banks charge a small flat fee for this, separate from the stamp duty on the indemnity bond itself.

What If the FD Has Already Matured

If the receipt is lost after the deposit has already matured, the process is similar but framed as an indemnity for encashment rather than a duplicate for a live deposit — you'd submit the same kind of indemnity bond, and the bank credits the maturity proceeds to your linked account once verified, without necessarily issuing a fresh physical certificate at all. Many banks now auto-credit FD maturity proceeds to the linked savings account by default, which further reduces how often a lost receipt becomes a genuine obstacle at maturity.

A Few Things Worth Checking Before You Panic

• Check net banking or the bank's mobile app first — many banks let you view or redownload an FD statement or e-receipt instantly, without any indemnity process at all, if the deposit was booked digitally.
• A police complaint (FIR) is not usually mandatory for a lost FD receipt, unlike a lost passbook or chequebook in some banks' policies — check your specific bank's requirement, since a few do ask for one above a certain deposit size.
• Keep nomination details on the FD updated regardless of whether you still have the receipt — nomination, not possession of the paper, is what actually simplifies a future claim.
• If the FD is one of several at the same bank, mention the exact account number in your written request — banks won't act on a description alone ("the FD I opened last year") without the specific reference.

A lost FD receipt is a paperwork problem, not a financial one — the deposit, the interest, and your claim to both remain intact in the bank's records the entire time. The indemnity-bond process exists to protect the bank against the rare case of the original paper resurfacing in someone else's hands, not to make your money harder to reach. And with e-FDRs becoming the default at most large banks, it's a problem that's likely to matter less with every FD you open from here.