Preamble
The Safe Deposit Locker Policy has been framed with the approval of the Board. The premise of this policyis based on the RBI’s Master Circular No. RBI/2021-2022/86 DOR.LEG.REC/40/09.07.005/2021-22 dated August 18th, 2021, regarding various operational and procedural guidelines for Safe Deposit Locker issuedby the RBI from time to time. This policy contented the guidelinesto Bank and customer on the procedureto be followed in dealing with Safe Deposit Locker operation. This policy will be applicable to all the branches of Shivalik Small Finance Bank (the “Bank”).
Objective
The objective of the policy is to lay down the principles to be followed during lifecycle of a safe deposit locker.
Advantages of storing the valuables in a Safe Deposit Locker
Concept of a Safe Deposit Locker
A safe deposit locker is referred as locker in this policy, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. Safe deposit boxes are used to store valuable possessions, such as gemstones, precious metals, currency, marketable securities, luxury goods, important documents (e.g., wills, property deeds, or birth certificates), or computer data, that need protection from theft, fire, flood, tampering, or other perils. Bank lockers are one of the safest options to keep your jewellery and important papers safe. Lockers are made of high-quality thick steel/metal plates with screws fitted on them making it difficult for robbers to break open. The lockers are enabled with locks which ensures that the locker cannot be opened in single capacity and requires presence of bank staff as well as customer thereby reducing the chances of misuse.
Issuance/Allotment of Locker
Any customer of the bank holding a Current Account/ Savings Account/Loan account may avail the facility of a safe deposit locker in the bank who are properly introduced to the branch. The account holder may apply for a locker under any mode of operation i.e., he/she can rent a locker in joint name as well. Private Limited & Public Limited companies must include issuance of locker facility in AOA as well as in Board Resolution.
Eligible Customers: Lockers can be rented to the following categories of customers Only:
Customers not Eligible to open Lockers:
The usual precautions/formalities in the opening of Deposit Accounts, as detailed in KYC policy of the bank, for the above listed categories/types of constituents should be strictly observed in hiring out lockers. In the case of individuals having the locker in the joint names like “Either or Survivor” / “Anyone or Survivor”, any one of them can access the locker.
Customer can avail multiple lockers with or without Joint Holder/s, normally the lockers cannot be hired with same secondary hirer, however the deviation can be approved by the Head - Operations. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations, Bank is also required to maintain a wait list for the allotment of lockers. In fact, according to RBI regulation, every application received for allotment of a locker should be acknowledged by the Bank and given a wait list number. To state the purpose, branches should maintain a “Locker Waitlist Register” and scribble the customer details chronologically, who wish to take locker in our Bank.
A customer who is not having any other banking relationship with the Bank and wishes to avail standalone locker facility may be offered safe deposit locker facility subject to compliance with the Customer due diligence criteria as laid down in Bank’s KYC policy. Such allotment cases need prior approval of Operation Head.
Types of Lockers
There are three types of lockers provided by our Bank categorized under the following:
Name/s Addition, Modification & Deletion
Addition/Modification
Deletion
However, one or more names from a Joint Locker Account should not be deleted. If such deletion is insisted by the hirers, then they must be advised to surrender the existing locker and a new locker should be allotted to them following all the regular formalities.
Nomination Facility
This facility is available to lockers held in individual capacity either singly or jointly. Hence lockers hired in representative capacity such as trustee, liquidator or in the name of companies, associations etc. are not eligible for this facility.
Eligibility:
Staff Members & Lockers
Bank has a special policy for staff members to avail locker facility at discounted rates subject to availability in the branches. The same should be availed under staff category only. No member of the staff shall be permitted to hire a locker jointly with a constituent of the bank or any other third party. (i.e., other than his family members). Discounts on locker for bank staff are defined in Employee Benefit policy issued by HR. The bank staffs who want to avail the locker facility under staff discounted rates, he/she shall be the primary hirer of the locker and shall also be detailed in the locker agreement. The staff can further avail multiple lockers under staff category; however, the discount will be offered only on the first locker hired. Staff can take multiple lockers in his/her name.
Staff discount will only be offered where he/she is the primary holder. Normally the lockers cannot be hired with same secondary hirer, however the deviation can be approved by Operations Head.
Illiterate Locker Hirers
Renting of lockers to illiterate customers involves potential risk and hence should be strictly in exceptional cases only and where the Branch Head is satisfied about the genuineness of the need and bona-fides of the customer. The following procedure should be adopted when a locker is rented to an illiterate customer.
Locker Operations
Access to the lockers should be permitted to hirers only after they sign the “Locker Issue cum Access Register” and is in possession of the correct key. When a locker customer completes his locker operation and checks out, lockers custodian should enter the locker room and check whether the hirer had properly locked his locker and he had not by mistake/oversight left any of his articles outside the locker. Only after such a check another customer should be permitted to enter the locker room to operate his locker. The branch must introduce and maintain “Locker Issue cum Access Register” defined in point “Register to be maintained”.
Same in and out activity of locker operation done by customer needs to be captured in CBS as well from menu option HLKOPS.
Locker Operation timings will be as per the Business/Banking hours for customers and no locker shall be operated by customers post business hours and during public holidays.
Liability for Bank
Banks owe a separate duty of care to exercise due diligence in maintaining and operating their locker. The duty of care includes ensuring proper functioning of the locker system, guarding against unauthorized access to the lockers and providing appropriate safeguards against theft and robbery.
Bank shall not be liable for any damage and/or loss of contents of locker arising from natural calamities or Acts of God like earthquake, floods, lightning and thunderstorm or any act that is attributable to the sole fault or negligence of the customer. Banks shall, however, exercise appropriate care to their locker systems to protect their premises from such catastrophes.
For loss of contents of the locker, in instances where loss of contents of locker are due to incidents such as fire, theft/ burglary/ robbery, dacoity, building collapse arising due to banks own shortcomings, negligence and by any act of omission/commission or attributable to fraud committed by its employee(s), the banks’ liability shall be for an amount equivalent to one hundred times the prevailing annual rent of the safe deposit locker.
Mandatory Information for Locker Issuance
The customer willing to hire a locker should submit an application, in Bank’s form, furnishing complete particulars like:
“Locker Agreement Form (Annexure- 1) duly executed on stamp paper” should be kept under lock and key under the custody of the Officer-in-Charge of Lockers. Each locker hirer will have to sign the “Locker Agreement Form” duly executed on stamp paper of defined value, wherein the terms and conditions under which the locker is rented to him are detailed. The key to the locker should be tested i.e., to check whether it opens and locks the assigned locker smoothly, before handing over to the hirer. All the required documents are detailed in Annexures - 1 to 16.
Locker Setup and Operations
All vacant lockers should be tallied once in every month and same should be conveyed to OPS & Audit Team that all keys are tallied as per the Locker Key Register.
Locker Left Open
At times, the hirer may go out of locker room without properly locking his locker. Even though the Bank has no knowledge of and takes no cognizance of the contents of the lockers, following precautionary measures may be adopted to safeguard the contents in the interest of the hirer.
Valuables/Articles Found in Locker Room
Sometimes the hirer by mistake or in a hurry, may leave certain valuable articles in the locker room. Such valuable articles found inside the “Locker Room” must be kept under proper Safe Custody as per the following guidelines:
Locker Charges
Rent for each type of Locker (as per size of the Locker) will vary and is well defined in General Schedule of Features and Charges (GSFC). The locker rent can be revised by Executive Committee post issuing the relevant notice to the customers at least 90 days prior to the next rent collection date. To ensure that locker rents for all lockers are collected without delay or default, it is desirable to fix a date to collect the annual rent in advance for the whole year. It ought to be the first week of “April” every year. In which case the Branch should send “Rent due notices” and collect the rent debit to the customer’s accounts. Proper follow up action should be taken to collect the annual rent before 2nd April every year. If the rent is paid after 2nd April, penalty at the rates fixed should also be collected based on bank’s discretion. The locker charges are always charged in advance and the charges are based on branch classification (Metro, Urban, Semi-Urban and Rural). In case any customer request for locker in mid-year or during anytime in FY then charges will be debited from that particular month till end of Financial Year. For example, if any customer has hired a locker in the month of October, then locker rent will be charged from the month of October to the month of March with GST.
However, if customer wants to surrender his/her locker at any point of time during the stated FY where advance charge/rent has already been collected, then Bank shall be liable to pay/refund the proportionate amount to the customer on pro rata basis.
Fixed Deposit Against Locker
Locker is one of the primary sources of generating revenue for the bank. It is the prime responsibility of the branch to ensure that customer pays the rent at regular intervals. However, in certain cases customer does not pay the rent regularly and does not turn up for the same despite repeated reminders. To deal with such situation branches should ask the customer for Fixed Deposit at the time of allotment of locker. The Fixed Deposit amount will be equivalent to three years rent of the locker. There is no deviation to this requirement of Fixed Deposit without appropriate approval from OPS Head.
Notes:
Surrendering of Locker/s
When a locker is surrendered by the hirer, the locker key should be collected. He has to sign in appropriate place in “Locker Surrender Form” (Annexure -13). Locker Rent should be collected for the whole year in advance. In the event of surrender of a locker by a customer, the proportionate amount of advance rent collected shall be refunded to the customer.
All lockers surrender form/s along with locker agreement/s should be filed separately post voiding the agreement/s.
If the locker is in joint names, then all the hirers should sign the Locker Agreement Form and the letter informing the bank about their surrendering the Locker. The lock of the surrendered locker must be interchanged with that of a vacant locker. In case no vacant locker is available in the branch then a spare lock should be procured from the company which supplied the locker units and the same should be fitted in the surrendered locker retaining the lock of that locker as a spare one.
Only after changing the lock of the surrendered locker the same should be hired out to another customer.
Death of a Locker Hirer
Please refer to Deceased claim settlement policy.
Inoperative lockers
If the locker remains inoperative for a period of seven years and the locker-hirer cannot be located, even if rent is being paid regularly, the bank shall be at liberty to transfer the contents of the locker to their nominees/legal heir or dispose of the articles in a transparent manner, as the case may be. Bank shall follow the breakopen of locker steps as detailed in clause 22 (Breakopen of locker).
Breaking Open of a Locker
Bank shall have the discretion to break open any locker following due procedure if the rent has not been paid by the customer for three years in a row. The bank ensures to notify the existing locker-hirer prior to any changes in the allotment and give him/her reasonable opportunity to withdraw the articles deposited by him/her.
Breaking open of a locker is an extreme step. It should not be resorted to without exhausting all available remedies. Prior permission should be obtained from Head Office – Operation Head and Admin Head for breaking open a locker. All rents to the lockers are strictly payable for one year in advance. On failure to pay the rents in advance (deposit notice and reminders) or to deliver possession of the locker with key, branch have liberty to break open the locker. For breaking open the locker following procedure should be followed:
Master Keys – Process of Handing Over Master Keys and Registers to Be Maintained on Daily Basis
Registers to be maintained
Annexures
Locker agreement has been redesigned to facilitate branches to keep all the details of the customer in a precise manner. Also, all the annexures related to Lockers are redesigned and issued under a master circular with locker agreement. All are requested to take a printout of Agreement at the time of locker issuance. Branches are strictly advised not to use previous agreement from immediate effect.
The list of Locker annexures is a follow:
1
Annexure – 1
Locker Agreement (Single/Joint Hirers)
2
Annexure – 2
Nomination Form (SL-1) - Sole Hirer in respect of Safety Lockers
3
Annexure – 3
Nomination Form (SL1A) - Joint Hirer in respect of Safety Lockers
4
Annexure – 4
Nomination Form (SL -2 ) - Cancellation of Nomination
5
Annexure – 5
Variation of nomination - Sole Hirer in respect of Safety Lockers
6
Annexure – 6
Variation of nomination - Joint Hirer in respect of Safety Lockers
7
Annexure – 7
Application for Break Open
8
Annexure – 8
Report of locker Broken Open
9
Annexure – 9
Rent Overdue Letter- First, Second and Final
10
Annexure – 10
Inoperative Locker- First, Second and Final
11
Annexure – 11
Intimation to customer 15 Days prior to break open
12
Annexure – 12
Register Formats
13
Annexure – 13
Locker Surrender Application Form
14
Annexure – 14
Vernacular Declaration
15
Annexure – 15
SDL – Addition of Name(s)
16
Annexure – 16
SDL – Deletion of Name(s)
Note: All the above-mentioned Annexures are uploaded on the portal along with the policy.
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