The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Reserve Bank of India to frame new locker rules within six months that banks across the country will follow, reported NDTV. The court noted that banks were the custodians of public property and therefore have to be accountable for the contents of their lockers.
“Banks are under the mistaken impression that not having knowledge of the contents of the locker exempts them from [the] liability for failing to secure the lockers in themselves as well,” the Supreme Court bench of Justices Mohan M Shanthanagoudar and Vineet Saran said. “In as much as we are the highest court of the country, we cannot allow the litigation between the bank and locker holders to continue in this vein.”
The court also outlined 15 guidelines that banks will follow till the new rules and regulations were framed, reported Live Law. This includes maintenance of a locker register and a locker key register, updating the locker register frequently, notifying…