If you are a bank locker holder and have kept or are planning to keep cash in it, then think again.
Back in October 2022, a woman in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, discovered that the bank locker in which she had stored Rs 18 lakh was infested with termites. According to media reports, she had kept the money in the bank locker close about 15 months for her daughter’s wedding and the issue came to light when she was called by bank authorities for KYC verification and yearly locker maintenance.
Also read: Latest bank locker charges of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, Canara Bank
Let us take a look at what one can keep in their bank locker.
Bank lockers are not meant for keeping cash. It is used for keeping jewels, documents, and other valuables. According to revised locker agreement of various bank, “Only for legitimate purposes such as storing of valuables like jewelry and documents but not for storing any cash or currency.”
Here is a look at other things you can keep in a bank locker.
Also read: Bank locker: What is the difference between supplementary locker agreement and revised locker agreement?
Things which should not be stored in a bank locker
1) Arms, weapons, explosives, drugs and/ or any contraband material; and/ or
2) Any perishable material and/ or radioactive material and/ or any illegal substance; and/or
3) Any material which can create any hazard or nuisance to the Bank or to any of its customers.
When are banks responsible?
The RBI announced the new locker guidelines via a notification on August 18, 2021. The RBI has set a deadline of December 31, 2023 for the execution of updated locker agreements. If you submitted an bank locker agreement on or before December 31, 2022, you might need to sign and submit an updated locker agreement once more. Here is a look at the liability of banks.
The bank will not be liable for any damage and/or loss of locker contents caused by natural calamities or Acts of God such as earthquakes, floods, lightning, and thunderstorms, or any act caused solely by the customer’s fault or carelessness. Banks must, however, take reasonable precautions to secure their locker systems from such disasters.
Liability of banks arising from events like fire, theft or in case of fraud committed by the employees of the bank
According to the SBI website, “Branches shall bear responsibility to ensure that incidents like fire, theft/ burglary/ robbery, dacoity, building collapse do not occur in the bank’s premises due to its own shortcomings, negligence and by any act of omission/commission. Instances where loss of contents of locker are due to incidents mentioned above or attributable to fraud committed by its employee(s), the banks’ liability shall be for an amount equivalent to one hundred times the prevailing annual rent of the safe deposit locker.”
What is the amount bank will pay
If the loss occurs as a result of the bank’s own shortcomings, negligence, and any act of omission/commission or fraud performed by its employee(s), the bank’s liability is capped for a sum equal to one hundred times the current yearly rent of the safe deposit box.
If the locker rent charged is Rs 2000, the bank will pay 100 times of the Rs 2000 that is Rs 200,000.
