People often use safe lockers in banks to store valuables such as jewellery and property papers. In 2021, Reserve Bank of India changed the rules related to bank lockers which are effective since January 2022. The primary objective of these bank locker rules was to protect expensive assets from theft and burglaries. With trembling economic inequality, jewelry and cash thefts are still prevalent in many parts of India.
Fraud Prevention Rules Introduced
Every time you will access the locker, you will be alerted through e-mail and SMS through the bank. The objective of the rule is to prevent fraud. Also, the bank has the right to rent a locker for a maximum period of three years. For instance, if the locker rent is Rs 2000, the bank should not charge you more than Rs 6000, excluding other maintenance charges.
RBI has made it mandatory to monitor the people coming and going into the locker room through CCTV cameras. Moreover, the data of CCTV footage will have to be stored for six months. In case of a security lapse or theft, the police will be able to investigate through the CCTV footage.
Compensation In Case Of Theft
Earlier, banks were not responsible for the loss of items in your locker. You could not claim financial damages from them. There are instances of thefts at banks where lockers were broken into. However, the locker owners were not compensated for those losses.
Now, according to the RBI, the person will be entitled to compensation if any valuable item gets stolen from a customer’s bank locker. Banks will have to pay up to 100 times the annual locker rent to the customer as compensation.
Banks are responsible for ensuring the security and safety of the premises where the safe deposits are housed. Banks must also ensure that incidents of theft, burglary, fire, robbery or dacoity do not occur due to lapses on their part.
Transparency
Lack of transparency had always been a concern in the public sector departments. Until today, banks used to sideline the theft incidents and ignore them completely by saying that they were not responsible for it. RBI stated that in its order banks will have to show a list of empty lockers and the waiting list number of the locker.
Rent
Customers, who want to get a locker in a bank, will have to pay a term deposit which will be equivalent to locker rent for three years. Banks can’t charge the rent for more than three years in advance.
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