Bank Locker Rule: Do you also keep your jewellery or other valuables in a bank locker? If yes, then it is important that you reconsider whether the rent you pay for the locker is sufficient to protect your valuables. In fact, recently a case of gold theft from a woman’s locker came to light in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch located in Kirti Nagar area of West Delhi. Since then, who will take responsibility if the jewellery and other valuables kept in the bank locker are stolen. Questions have started arising regarding who is responsible for this, does the bank take guarantee for the things kept in the locker? Let us tell you what the RBI Bank Locker Rule says.
What are the bank locker rules?
In fact, gold prices are continuously increasing, hence the locker rent will not be enough to compensate your loss in any major accident, because the liability of the bank is limited to only 100 times the annual rent.
How much responsibility does the bank have for the safety of gold kept in the bank locker?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made a clear rule that if the items kept in the locker are damaged due to incidents like fire, theft or fraud by bank employees, then the bank’s responsibility is only up to 100 times the annual locker rent.
Simply put, suppose your annual locker rent is Rs 2,000, then the maximum amount you paid to the bank is Rs 2,000 × 100 = Rs 200,000. However, Rs 200,000 today doesn’t even cover 2 tolas (≈16 grams) of gold. Therefore, this amount is not sufficient to compensate for your gold loss.
RBI guidelines clarify that in the event of a customer’s loss, banks will no longer be able to deny it by citing conditions, ensuring that the customer is fully compensated. According to RBI rules, banks must ensure that the locker agreements they enter into do not include any unfair conditions that could harm customers.
