Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, Sanjay Malhotra, announced three consumer centric developments on the concluding day of RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on August 6, 2025. One of these developments is about standardising the procedure for settlement of claims in respect of bank accounts and articles kept in the bank lockers of deceased bank customers. It is expected that this development will make the process simple and convenient for legal heirs of the deceased bank customers.
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Sanjay Malhotra, governor of RBI said: “We will be standardising the procedure for settlement of claims in respect of bank accounts, and articles kept in safe custody or safe deposit lockers of deceased bank customers. This is expected to make settlement more convenient and simpler.”
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What are the existing rules about accessing bank lockers of deceased persons?According to an RBI circular dated August 18, 2021, here’s what the existing process is:
Settlement of Claims in case of death of a bank customer
“Banks shall have a Board approved policy for settlement of claims. The policy shall be in conformity with the regulatory instructions and the Model Operational Procedure (MOP) for settlement of claims of the deceased constituents formulated by the IBA and in case of State and Central Co-operative Banks, MOP formulated by NABARD.Banks shall have a Board approved policy for nomination and release of contents of safety lockers / safe custody article to the nominee and protection against notice of claims of other persons in accordance with the provisions of Sections 45 ZC to 45 ZF of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 1985/Co-operative Banks (Nomination) Rules, 1985 and the relevant provisions of Indian Contract Act and Indian Succession Act.In order to ensure that the articles left in safe custody and contents of lockers are returned to the genuine nominee, as also to verify the proof of death, banks shall devise their own claim formats, in terms of applicable laws and regulatory guidelines.Time limit for settlement of claims: Banks shall settle the claims in respect of deceased locker hirers and shall release contents of the locker to survivor(s) / nominee(s), as the case may be, within a period not exceeding 15 days from the date of receipt of the claim subject to the production of proof of death of the depositor and suitable identification of the claimant(s) with reference to nomination, to the bank’s satisfaction.Banks shall report to the Customer Service Committee of the Board, at appropriate intervals, on an ongoing basis, the details of the number of claims received pertaining to deceased locker-hirers / depositors of safe custody article accounts and those pending beyond the stipulated period, with reasons therefor. Customer Service Committee of the Board of the banks shall review the settlement of claims and make suggestions to ensure that the claims are settled as early as possible unless there is any litigation pending before the Courts or any difficulty is being faced in identifying the true claimant with reference to nomination.