If gold is stolen from a bank locker, who will pay the loss? Know complete details

Bank Locker Rules: To keep our gold and silver jewelery and documents safe, we open lockers in banks. But imagine if gold is stolen from the bank locker itself… Recently, there was an uproar in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch located in Kirti Nagar, West Delhi. Here a woman and her mother-in-law alleged that precious gold ornaments were missing from their joint locker. The locker was opened as per the standard procedure of the bank, but the women claimed that the gold and jewelery kept inside was not found at all. In such a situation, the question now arises that if goods or gold go missing from the bank locker, then who will be responsible? Also who will pay for the loss? So let us know the rules of RBI-

What do RBI rules say?

• It is clearly stated in the rules of RBI that the bank will not be responsible for any general theft or loss.
• The bank will be liable only if the bank is proven guilty of negligence. Such as major lack of security, closure or malfunction of CCTV, mistake of staff or fraud by bank employee.
• According to the RBI guidelines for the year 2022, bank locker is only a storage service. That is, the bank provides space, but does not have information about what is kept inside, nor does it guarantee complete security or insurance.
• If the bank is at fault like fire, theft, robbery or fraud on the part of the employee, the bank can give maximum compensation up to 100 times the annual locker rent.
• This can be understood in simple language with an example. For example, if the annual rent of your locker is Rs 4,000, then the maximum you will get is Rs 4 lakh. Even if there is gold worth crores in the locker.
• If the loss is due to natural disaster (earthquake, flood etc.), the bank is not responsible at all.
• Let us tell you that banks clearly write in their agreements that they do not take responsibility for the material.

Keep these things in mind before keeping valuables in the locker

• Read the agreement carefully.
• What is kept in the locker? There is no need to give any list of these to the bank, so the bank says ‘we did not know what was there.’
• If there is any problem, immediately lodge an FIR with the police and give written information to the bank.

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Keep these things in mind also

• Before keeping any item in the locker, keep its photo, written list and receipts with you at home for proof.
• Apart from this, get separate insurance for precious gold and jewellery.
• Many banks themselves advise that the locker cover is very less, hence personal insurance is necessary. This can provide full compensation for the loss.