Upon notification of revised model agreement locker holders will have to re-agree

MUMBAI: Bank locker holders who have signed new agreements with banks before 2022 regarding their lockers may have to renew their agreements.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has instructed the banks that the agreements with the locker holders should be as per the revised model agreements reviewed by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). This notification of RBI has come through a circular dated 23rd January 2023.

The circular comes after the RBI noticed that some banks did not mention the banks' liability or compensation policy in case of fire, theft or vandalism in the newly revised bank locker agreement. Many banks have entered into such unspecified agreements with their customers.

In case of any loss to the locker holder due to the negligence of the bank, the bank will have to pay compensation of 100 times of the annual rent of the locker to that customer, according to the notification of the Reserve Bank of August 18, 2021.

Banks are not obliged to pay compensation in case of incidents like natural calamities. In cases where revised model agreements have not been made as per the instructions of the Reserve Bank, the banks will have to make a fresh or supplementary agreement and the cost of this will have to be borne by the banks, said the sources of the Reserve Bank.