Are RBI's guidelines for lockers satisfactory?

- Antenna: Vivek Mehta

- Hundreds of times rent is paid as compensation but millions of items lying in the locker have to be lost.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new guideline on August 15 to pay the locker holder a hundred times the amount of rent taken by the bank locker if it is lost or damaged due to fire, theft or burglary. The new guidelines announced by the Reserve Bank will come into effect from January 1, 2009. This guideline will apply equally to the newly opened locker and the one that was opened earlier today. Is it right to give them only thousands of rupees for losing millions? There has been talk of insuring valuables lying in lockers and securing them, but insurance companies are not ready to insure them. It is not clear how to determine the value of insurance.

Yes, the agreement between the bank and the locker opener at the time of opening the locker will also guarantee the locker holder that he will not contain any hazardous or harmful substance in it. He will not keep anything that is considered illegal. On the other hand, each bank has to prepare and keep a list of how many lockers are vacant in each of its branches. Also, a list of how many applications are pending for the locker should be prepared. These details have to be kept in the core banking system or other computerized system. The guideline is designed to ensure transparency in the allocation of lockers so that work can be done within the framework of cyber security.

The new guidelines also provide for compensation to locker holders in the event of a loss. The terms amended with this guideline also define the bank's liability in case of loss to the locker holder. The locker holder is liable to be compensated in case the item placed in the locker is lost or damaged. A detailed policy will have to be prepared with the approval of the board of the bank to discharge this responsibility. In it the bank itself had to clarify how much responsibility they wanted to take if the items in the locker were lost as a result of the negligence of the bank staff. At the same time, it is the responsibility of the banks to provide maximum security to the lockers. The guidelines clearly state that they cannot take responsibility for what is placed in the locker. In case of collapse of the bank building, theft or robbery or fraud by the bank employee, the bank will have to take responsibility for it. Under this obligation the bank will have to pay the locker owner one hundred times the amount of its annual rent as compensation. Banks will also have to take out a branch insurance policy. He will have to take out an insurance policy to minimize losses in cases including natural calamities, robberies, bank shifts, branch mergers. If a decision is taken to merge the bank, close the bank, shift the branch of the bank, the bank will have to give a public notice to inform the customer of that decision. One notice must be given in a local language newspaper and one in another language newspaper. The locker holder should be notified about this two months in advance.

Banks will be able to force the locker borrower to place a certain amount as a fixed deposit when taking a locker so that the bank locker rent is paid immediately. This deposit can take up to three years' rent. If the locker holder does not operate the locker or does not pay the rent then the bank will be allowed to break and open the locker. Each bank will have to implement standard operating procedures. A policy will also have to be prepared for the safety of the item.

In case the locker holder does not come for seven years and is not found, his legal heirs will have to be called and given all the items from the locker. After using the key to open the locker, the locker key will have to be put back in the sealed cover. If that happens then there will be no duplicate key creation. The keys of one branch should be kept in another branch. Doing so will prevent any staff member from duplicating it. It has been made mandatory to write bank and branch notes on the key.

A new rule has been enacted to preserve the recordings of CCTV cameras installed in the locker room and near the door of the locker room for 180 days. The walls of the locker room should be made of RCC, not brick. Special men will have to be kept for its security.