Priya keeps her mother’s gold bangles and the family’s property papers in a bank locker that costs her a few thousand rupees a year. She assumed that if anything happened to the contents, the bank would make good the full value. It would not. Under RBI rules, a bank’s liability for a bank locker is capped at 100 times the annual rent, and only for certain kinds of loss. Knowing exactly what the bank promises, and what it does not, changes how you use a locker.
This guide covers the RBI’s locker rules: the locker agreement, rent and advance deposits, bank liability, what is not covered, security and access records, nomination, and how your family gets access after your death.
The RBI’s bank locker rules in brief
The Reserve Bank of India revised its instructions on safe deposit lockers and safe custody articles in a circular dated 18 August 2021. They came into force on 1 January 2022 and apply to new and existing lockers at commercial banks (including regional rural banks), co-operative banks, small finance banks, payments banks and local area banks. The review took into account the Supreme Court’s February 2021 judgment in Amitabha Dasgupta vs United Bank of India.
Since then, two later sets of RBI directions have replaced the parts dealing with nomination and claims after death: the nomination directions effective from 1 November 2025, and the directions on settling claims of deceased customers, which banks had to implement by 31 March 2026. The rest of the 2021 framework, covering allotment, rent, security and liability, is what this guide draws on.
| Rule | What the RBI requires |
|---|---|
| Agreement | Board-approved locker agreement on stamped paper; copy to the customer; no unfair terms |
| Advance deposit | Term deposit at allotment of at most three years’ rent plus break-open charges |
| Bank liability | Up to 100 times the prevailing annual rent for fire, theft, burglary, dacoity, robbery, building collapse or staff fraud |
| Not covered | Natural calamities and losses caused solely by the customer’s negligence |
| Access alerts | SMS and email on the day of every locker operation |
| CCTV | Recordings, where kept under the bank’s policy, preserved for at least 180 days |
| Nomination | Up to four successive nominees |
| Claim after death | Inventory date fixed within 15 calendar days of complete documents; ₹5,000 a day for delay |
Getting a locker: allotment and the locker agreement
Banks must complete customer due diligence under the RBI’s KYC rules for everyone hiring a locker, whether or not you already have an account with them. They must keep a branch-wise list of vacant lockers and a wait list in their computer system, acknowledge every application, and give you a wait-list number if no locker is free.
At allotment you sign a locker agreement on duly stamped paper. Banks must have a board-approved agreement, may adopt the model agreement framed by the Indian Banks’ Association, and must not include unfair terms or terms more onerous than needed to protect the bank. You get a signed copy; the original stays with the branch. The RBI gave banks until 31 December 2023 to renew agreements with existing locker holders, after extending the original 1 January 2023 deadline, so if you have never signed a revised agreement, ask your branch.
The agreement must also say you will not keep anything illegal or hazardous in the locker. The bank can take action if it suspects you have.
Locker rent, the advance deposit and refunds
Bank locker rent is set by each bank, and the RBI requires banks to display their current locker charges on their websites. Compare before you choose.
To make sure rent gets paid, a bank may ask for a term deposit at the time of allotment. It cannot exceed three years’ rent plus the charges for breaking open the locker. The bank cannot insist on such a deposit from existing locker holders or from customers with a satisfactory operative account, and tying a locker to bigger deposits than this is treated as a restrictive practice.
If you paid rent in advance and surrender the locker, the bank must refund the proportionate advance rent. If a branch is merged, closed or shifted, the bank must give public notice in two newspapers and inform customers at least two months in advance, with the option to change or close the facility.
Unpaid rent has consequences. If rent is not paid for three years in a row, the bank may break open the locker after due notice by letter, email and SMS, and a public notice in two newspapers if you cannot be traced. It must do so before an officer and two independent witnesses, video-record the process and the inventory, and keep the contents in a sealed envelope in a fireproof safe until you claim them.
Bank locker liability: the 100 times rule
The RBI says banks owe a duty of care to keep locker systems working, guard against unauthorised access and protect against theft and robbery. Where contents are lost because of fire, theft, burglary, dacoity, robbery or building collapse at the bank’s premises, or because of fraud by bank staff, the bank’s liability is an amount equal to 100 times the prevailing annual rent of the locker.
Work out what that means for you. Say, as an illustration, your annual rent is ₹3,000. The most the bank would pay under this rule is ₹3 lakh. If the locker held jewellery worth ₹25 lakh, the shortfall is yours. Larger lockers carry higher rent and therefore a higher cap, but the cap is tied to rent, not to the value inside.
What is not covered
The bank is not liable for damage or loss from natural calamities or acts of God such as earthquakes, floods, lightning and thunderstorms, though it must take reasonable care to protect its premises. It is also not liable for loss caused solely by your own fault or negligence, such as leaving the locker open after use.
The bank does not record what you keep in the locker, so it has no duty to insure the contents. RBI rules go further: banks must not offer, directly or indirectly, any insurance product to locker hirers for the contents. If you want cover for jewellery or valuables, buy it separately and read whether the policy covers items kept in a bank locker.
Security, CCTV and access records
The 2021 instructions set out how banks must guard the vault and record every visit:
- A single defined entry and exit to the locker room, protection against flood water and fire risk, and regular safety checks.
- An access control system with a digital time log, where the bank’s risk assessment calls for it.
- CCTV over the strong room entry and exit and common areas, as per the bank’s security policy, with recordings kept for at least 180 days, and longer until any police investigation or dispute is settled if you complain of unauthorised access.
- A record of everyone who opens a locker, with date, check-in and check-out times and signatures, plus a register of all movement in the vault room, including staff.
- An email and SMS to your registered contact before the end of the day, confirming the date and time of each locker operation and how to complain if it was not you.
- The bank official who operates the first key must not stay while you open the locker, and banks must ensure privacy.
- Electronic lockers must keep an unalterable log, be protected against hacking, and not share biometric data without consent.
If you get an alert for a visit you did not make, complain to the bank at once and ask it to preserve the CCTV footage.
Lost key
If you lose your bank locker key, tell the bank immediately. It will break open the locker only after identifying you and getting your written authority, in your presence, and can recover the cost of opening, changing the lock and replacing the key.
Locker nomination: up to four successive nominees
From 1 November 2025, under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, you can name up to four nominees for a locker, but only successively. The second nominee steps in only if the first has died, and so on. Simultaneous nomination with percentage shares, which is allowed for deposits, is not available for lockers. Banks must include space for nomination in the locker application, register changes and cancellations, and acknowledge them within three working days.
For joint lockers, how access works after a death depends on the mandate. If you hired the locker jointly with a survivorship instruction such as “either or survivor”, the bank follows it. If the locker is operated jointly and the hirers named nominees, the bank gives access jointly to the survivors and the nominees.
Access to the locker after the hirer’s death
The RBI’s 2025 claim directions lay down a standard process. With a nominee or survivor, the bank asks for a claim form, the death certificate and an officially valid identity document. It does not need a succession certificate, probate or an indemnity bond unless there is a discrepancy in the nomination.
- Within 15 calendar days of receiving all documents, the bank must process the claim and write to you to fix a date for the inventory.
- The inventory is taken in the presence of the nominees or survivors, two independent witnesses who are not bank employees or ex-employees, the vault custodian and another bank employee not linked to locker operations.
- You remove the contents and sign an acknowledgement that the locker is empty.
If the bank misses the 15-day timeline, it must pay ₹5,000 for each day of delay. The nominee gets access only as a trustee for the legal heirs, so the contents still pass according to the will or succession law.
Without a nominee or survivorship clause, and where there is no dispute and no will, heirs can use a simplified procedure with a legal heir certificate or an affidavit from an independent person known to the family, plus no-objection letters from other heirs. An independent valuer values the contents, and claimants sign an indemnity bond before removing them. If there is a will, the bank goes by probate or may act on an undisputed will at its discretion.
If a bank locker stays unused for seven years and the hirer cannot be traced, even if rent is being paid, the bank may transfer the contents to the nominees or legal heirs, or dispose of them transparently, after following the break-open procedure.
Bank locker checklist
- Keep your signed locker agreement and check that it is the revised version.
- Register up to four successive nominees, and tell them which branch holds the locker.
- Keep your mobile number and email updated so you get an alert for every visit.
- Remember the bank’s maximum liability is 100 times the annual rent; insure high-value items separately.
- Keep a private list and photos of what is inside, since the bank keeps no record of contents.
- Pay rent on time; three years of arrears allow the bank to break the locker open.
If you are weighing a locker against keeping savings in deposits, the FD calculator helps you see what an advance deposit earns while it sits with the bank. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
