SBI Locker Alert: Bank Asks Customers To Execute Revised Agreement, Check Details Here

Bank Locker Agreement Update: Customers with lockers in different banks will have to sign the revised locker agreements by June 30. RBI had extended the deadline for banks to finish the renewal procedure in stages by December 31, 2023. On June 30, 2023, the first instalment of the renewal of 50% of the contracts is due.

Updating its customers, State Bank of India on Monday informed that, “We request our esteemed customers to contact their locker holding branch and execute the revised/supplementary locker agreement as applicable,” SBI said in a tweet on Monday.

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“Bank has issued a revised/supplementary locker agreement incorporating the customer’s rights. Customers availing locker facilities from SBI are requested to contact their locker holding branch and execute the revised/supplementary locker agreement as applicable,” the statement added.

The RBI in January extended the deadline till December-end for banks to enter into revised agreements with safe deposit locker holders as a large number of customers are yet to do so.

In August 2021, RBI had asked banks to enter into revised agreements with the existing locker holders by January 1, 2023, in view of various developments in the area of banking and technology, nature of consumer grievances and also the feedback received.

“However, it has come to the notice of RBI that a large number of customers are yet to sign the revised agreement. In many cases, the banks are yet to inform the customers about the need to do so before the stipulated date (January 1, 2023),” the central bank had said in a statement while extending the deadline for banks to complete the process of renewal of agreements for the existing safe deposit lockers in a phased manner by December 31, 2023.

The RBI found that not only were customers facing difficulty in renewing their contracts, but many banks were yet to inform customers about the need for the renewal of locker agreements.

The RBI has set the following deadlines for the renewal of bank locker agreements:

April 30, 2023: Banks should notify all their customers about the revised requirements.

June 30, 2023: Banks should ensure that at least 50% of their customers have renewed their agreements.

September 30, 2023: Banks should ensure that at least 75% of their customers have renewed their agreements.

Banks also have to facilitate execution of the fresh/supplementary stamped agreements with their customers by taking measures such as arranging stamp papers, electronic execution of agreement, e-stamping, and providing a copy of the executed agreement to the customer.

The RBI also said in cases where operations in lockers have been frozen for non-execution of agreement by January 1, 2023, “the same shall be unfrozen with immediate effect”.

The August 2021 guidelines pertain to customer due diligence, model locker agreement, locker rent, security of strong rooms, and attachment and recovery of contents in a locker and the articles by any law enforcement authority, among others.

The RBI had also said there is a need for revision in the Model Agreement drafted by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to fully comply with the revised instructions.