Parliament Question: Safety of Bank Locker Facilities

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *508 ANSWERED ON MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2026/CHAITRA 09, 1948 (SAKA) Safety of Bank Locker Facilities *508. DR. KIRSAN NAMDEO: Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state: (a) the total number of bank locker facilities operated by public sector banks, private sector banks and cooperative banks as on date; (b) the number of reported cases of locker theft, year-wise, State-wise and bank-wise; (c) whether any review has been conducted by the Government on compliance with the Reserve Bank of India’s 2021 directions on safe deposit locker facilities, if so, the number of banks found non-compliant; and (d) whether the Government proposes to revise norms on liability limits, insurance coverage or mandatory disclosure of locker security standards in cases of a bank’s fault and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF FINANCE (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN) (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****STATEMENT FOR LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *508 FOR MARCH 30, 2026, REGARDING “SAFETY OF BANK LOCKER FACILITIES” BY DR. KIRSAN NAMDEO, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (a) to (d): As per inputs received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), a total of 1,09,98,050 bank lockers were operational as on 31.03.2025. Further, 40 cases of locker theft have been established in PSBs during FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25. The year-wise, PSB-wise and State- wise details are enclosed at Annexure I and Annexure II, respectively. As per information from received from NABARD, a total of 11,22,982 locker facilities are currently operated by Rural Cooperative Banks. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that it does not maintain details of locker facilities operated in banks and nor the cases of locker theft. RBI has issued ‘Deposit Locker/Safe Custody Article Facility provided by the banks- Revised Instructions’, on 18.8.2021 and the banks have been advised to frame their own Board approved policy/ operational guidelines, considering the same. Some of the key instructions of the said circular include, inter alia, the following i. Adoption of a Model Locker Agreement; Prescribed enhanced safety and security standards for lockers; ii. Ensuring that locker areas remain adequately guarded at all times; iii. Provision of SMS/email alerts for locker operations; iv. Standardised procedures for breaking open lockers under specified circumstances; and v. A defined liability and compensation framework, along with mandatory disclosure of policies and procedures on bank websites. Compliance to RBI guidelines issued to banks is examined on sample basis during the Supervisory Assessment of the banks and any non-compliance observed are taken up with the banks for rectification apart from initiating supervisory/ enforcement action against the bank, as deemed fit. Further, banks are required to ensure that locker premises are adequately secured against criminal break-ins as well as natural and man-made hazards, in accordance with prescribed standards. As informed by PSBs, locker units are housed in strong rooms or safes conforming to Bureau of Indian Standards specifications. Branches are equipped with CCTV surveillance, burglar alarm systems, fire alarm systems and appropriate physical security arrangements, which are subject to periodic audit. Banks have also been advised to put in place Board-approved insurance policies to mitigate losses arising from contingencies affecting locker contents. As per the extant guidelines, banks are liable for loss of locker contents arising from incidents such as fire, theft, burglary, dacoity, robbery, building collapse or employee fraud, where such loss is attributable to the bank’s negligence or deficiency. In such cases, the liability of banks is capped at an amount equivalent to one hundred times the prevailing annual locker rent. *****Lok Sabha Question no. *508 for 30.3.2026 regarding “Safety of Bank Locker Facilities” Annexure I PSB-wise, Year-wise established cases of locker theft during FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 Sl. Public Sector FY 2020- FY 2022- FY 2023- FY 2024- FY 2021-22 No. Banks 21 23 24 25 (i) Bank of Baroda 0 0 0 0 0 (ii) Bank of India 0 1 10 3 0 (iii) Bank of Maharashtra 0 0 0 0 0 (iv) Canara Bank 0 0 0 0 0 (v) Central Bank of India 0 13 1 0 0 (vi) Indian Bank 0 1 0 0 0 Indian Overseas 0 1 0 0 0 (vii) Bank (viii) Punjab & Sind Bank 0 0 0 0 0 Punjab National 0 0 0 0 0 (ix) Bank (x) State Bank of India 0 0 6 0 4 (xi) UCO Bank 0 0 0 0 0 (xii) Union Bank of India 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 16 17 3 4 #Source: Public Sector BanksLok Sabha Question no. *508 for 30.3.2026 regarding “Safety of Bank Locker Facilities” Annexure II State-wise established cases of locker theft during FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25: Sr. No. State/UT No. of established cases 1 Andhra Pradesh 1 2 Arunachal Pradesh 0 3 Assam 0 4 Bihar 1 5 Chhattisgarh 1 6 Goa 0 7 Gujarat 1 8 Haryana 1 9 Himachal Pradesh 0 10 Jharkhand 12 11 Karnataka 0 12 Kerala 0 13 Madhya Pradesh 0 14 Maharashtra 5 15 Manipur 0 16 Meghalaya 0 17 Mizoram 0 18 Nagaland 0 19 Odisha 0 20 Punjab 0 21 Rajasthan 0 22 Sikkim 0 23 Tamil Nadu 0 24 Telangana 0 25 Tripura 0 26 Uttar Pradesh 18 27 Uttarakhand 0 28 West Bengal 0 29 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 0 30 Chandigarh 0 31 D&N Haveli and Daman and Diu 0 32 Delhi 0 33 Jammu & Kashmir 0 34 Ladakh 0 35 Lakshadweep 0 36 Puducherry 0 Total 40 #Source: Public Sector Banks