Banking Regulation Act
Banking Regulation Act
III · Section 45ZE

Release of contents of safety lockers

Synced on 07 Jul 2026Text as per India Code

[(1) Where one or more individuals hire a locker from a banking company, whether such locker is located in the safe deposit vault of such banking company or elsewhere, the individual or, as the case may be, all the individuals together, may nominate one or more persons not exceeding four, successively, to whom, in the event of the death of the sole hirer or the death of all the hirers, the banking company may give access to the locker and liberty to remove the contents of the locker.]

(2) Where any such locker is hired from a banking company by two or more individuals jointly, and, under the contract of hire, the locker is to be operated under the joint signatures of two or more of such hirers, such hirers may nominate one or more persons to whom, in the event of the death of such joint hirer or hirers, the banking company may give, jointly with the surviving joint hirer or joint hirers, as the case may be, access to the locker and liberty to remove the contents of such locker.

(3) Every nomination under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be made in the prescribed manner.

(4) The banking company shall, before permitting the removal of the contents of any locker by any nominee or jointly by any nominee and survivors as aforesaid, prepare, in such manner as may be directed by the Reserve Bank from time to time, an inventory of the contents of the locker which shall be signed by such nominee or jointly by such nominee and survivors and shall deliver a copy of the inventory so prepared to such nominee or nominee and survivors.

(5) On the removal of the contents of any locker by any nominee or jointly by any nominee and survivors as aforesaid, the liability of the banking company in relation to the contents of the locker shall stand discharged.

(6) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against a banking company for any damage caused or likely to be caused, for allowing access to any locker, and liberty to remove the contents of such locker, in pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be.

Judgments on Section 45ZE