RBI extends deadline for bank locker agreement renewals till December 2023

Bank Locker Rule: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given a relief for customers who use bank lockers by extending the deadline for banks to renew the contract with their customers until December 31, 2023. This replaces the earlier deadline of January 1, 2023. The RBI noted that it has come to their attention that a significant portion of customers have not yet signed the new agreement, and in other cases, banks have not even informed their customers who own lockers of the requirement to sign the new agreement by January 1, 2023.

The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) is now required to sign the draft model agreement, according to the updated instructions. The timeframe for renewing the agreement has been extended to December 31, 2023 to compensate for this. The RBI further specified that by April 30, 2023, banks must notify each of their locker-keeping customers. By June 30, 2023, 50 per cent of current customers must sign the revised agreement, and by September 30, 2023, 75 per cent of consumers must do so.

The RBI has advised banks to take concrete steps to make it easier for their customers to enter into new agreements, such as providing stamp paper, franking, executing electronic agreements, e-stamping, and providing copies of agreements to customers. Operations in lockers that have been suspended due to non-compliance of the agreement until January 1, 2023, should be unfreezed immediately, according to the RBI.

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In order to ensure compliance with the circular dated August 18, 2021, the RBI has also requested that the IBA review and update the Model Agreement. The revised version must be made accessible to all banks by February 28, 2023.

According to the revised locker agreement, which the RBI released on August 8, 2022, if a customer's belongings are destroyed, the bank would be liable for making up the difference in value. The deadline for customers to sign the bank locker agreement was set for December 31, 2022, but it has now been pushed back to December 31, 2023. Additionally, customers will be notified of the change in locker restrictions by SMS and other channels.

The bank will be solely responsible for any losses under the new rule and will be required to make compensation. The bank will be required to pay 100 times the locker fee if the loss was caused by staff fraud. The bank will not be liable for compensation, however, if the locker is damaged by a natural disaster or for any other reason. The nominee will take over the locker facility in the event that a client who owns a locker passes away. The nominee has the option to either remove the locker and become the claimants or maintain it.