If you have maintained a bank locker to keep your valuables, like jewellery or important documents, safe, you may know the formalities required to operate it. Even for a regular customer, the bank follows strict procedures, like keeping a record of the in and out timings of the person using it. While the bank ensures utmost care in locker operation, the customer must keep the locker key safe while the bank holds the other key.
To open the locker, the customer will need the key kept with the authorised bank employee besides the one he holds. If one of the keys goes missing, the customer cannot open the locker. So, keeping the locker keys safe and in a place where they can remember is vital.
In its circular “Safe Deposit Locker/Safe Custody Article Facility Provided by the Banks - Revised Instructions” on August 18, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided guidelines for banks to follow if a customer loses the locker key.
When the locker holder loses the key, he should immediately notify the bank. If there is more than one hirer of the locker, they must inform the bank in a signed letter about the lost keys.
Once the loss is reported to the bank, it can either replace the keys or provide a new locker with a new set of keys. The locker owner must also bear the cost of obtaining duplicate keys, a new vault, breaking open the safe, etc. Besides, the bank may ask the locker holder or the joint holders to submit an undertaking stating that the key will be returned to the bank if it is found in the future.
But how to open a locker to retrieve the content if the keys are lost? So, the bank will have to break open the vault to get the lock replaced. As per the circular, the bank will properly record details of the key loss and the customer's authorisation letter to break open the locker. They can break open the vault only after properly identifying the locker holder and his authorisation. Besides the authorised bank official, all the locker holders must be present at the time of breaking open the locker.
The locker owner must also ensure that the contents are not exposed to others while breaking the vault. As per RBI's directive, the bank must also ensure that "the contents of the lockers are not exposed to any individual other than the locker-hirer/s during the break-up or restoration process." Once the formalities are completed, you will get a new set of keys or a new locker. Remember, the charges may differ from one bank
