RBI had made some changes in the rules related to bank locker last year. These rules came into force in January this year. The purpose behind the change in these rules was to curb the incidents of theft of the properties deposited in the locker.
Before the change in the rules, banks used to shirk from taking responsibility for any items stolen from the locker, but now they will not be able to do so.
Usually, in the case of bank theft, they used to separate themselves by saying that the bank is not responsible for the goods kept inside the locker. After the implementation of the new rules, if there is any damage to the goods kept in the locker or if it is stolen, then the banks will not be able to withdraw from their liability. Let us see what are the new changes in the bank locker rules from January 1, 2022.
Will have to make full compensation
According to the new rule by RBI regarding bank locker, if there is some damage to any item kept in the locker, then the bank will compensate 100 percent of it. RBI has made this change in the rules in view of the increasing cases of theft of valuable jewelry and other assets kept in the lockers of banks.
In addition to the list of lockers, the RBI has assigned another responsibility to the banks. RBI has said that now banks will have to tell how many empty lockers they have and how much waiting period is going on for how many lockers. This is expected to increase transparency regarding bank lockers.
Freeze on rent
You can rent a locker from banks for 3 years. In lieu of this, the banks tell something else for the rent and the actual rent is something else after including many types of charges. Changes have also been made in this. Suppose the rent of a locker is Rs 10,000, then the bank will not charge you more than Rs 30,000 in 3 years. If any other charges are to be levied, the same will be informed to the customer in advance. Apart from this, a rule has also been brought for the prevention of fraud that if you use your locker, you will be informed about it through SMS or email. With this, no one else will be able to use your locker.
