Gold jewellery worth lakhs goes missing from Mumbai, Kanpur bank lockers — Do banks compensate theft?
Bank lockers are considered to be safe haven for precious jewellery but recent incidents of theft have created concerns over this secure storage facility. One of the recent incidents of theft that came to light this month is from Kanpur where a woman allegedly stored jewels worth ₹50 lakh at the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Swaroop Nagar. She found out that her valuables had gone missing when she checked the locker after nearly four months.
Another incident is from Mumbai involving a 74-year-old Dubai resident who had living in UAE for 52 years. The victim identified as Pradeep Motiram Bhatia discovered that his 610 grams of gold worth ₹81.8 lakh was missing when he returned to Mumbai after nearly two years, NDTV reported.
These incidents raised important questions about locker security and bank’s compensation policies. Reserve Bank of India, the apex monetary institution, regulates the functioning of locker facilities in India and has laid down regulatory framework in addition to operational rules of individual banks. RBI last updated its guidelines in August 2021 to improve transparency and accountability.
How much compensation do Banks provide on theft?
Banks have no authority to ask customers what is stored inside and are neither allowed to maintain an inventory of locker contents. However, if any asset goes missing due to the bank’s negligence, the bank is liable to compensate the customer.
As per RBI’s revised guidelines, if bank’s negligence or security failure is proven as the reason for the loss then the bank is liable to pay the compensation which can be up to 100 times the annual locker rent. This compensation amount is the fixed upper limit that a customer can demand but it is not automatically guaranteed. It is contingent on proof of fault on the part of the bank.
For instance, if the annual locker rent is ₹4,000, then the maximum compensation the bank will be required to pay is ₹4,00,000. In case of any mishap, bank’s negligence or lapse in security cannot be proved, no compensation is provided.
How do bank lockers operate?
Bank lockers operate with a dual-lock system as a part of which the customer holds one key while the second, a master key, remains with the bank. Both the keys are needed to have access to the locker, implying shared responsibility. However, the bank must ensure that the overall security and access systems are secure and functional at all times.
