Is it Safe to Keep Gold in a Bank Locker?
Bank lockers are considered to be the safest vaults as compared to house lockers, even if the owners think that all their valuables, jewellery, and confidential documents are kept safe and secured. The Supreme Court has asked the RBI to follow certain rules and regulations for this kind of safety facility within six months.
Is it Safe and Secure to Keep your Valuable Goods and Assets Inside the Bank Lockers?
What are the Charges that you Have to Bear to Keep your gold and Jewellery in Concrete Security?
Most of you prefer keeping gold in bank lockers, rather than at home. The Reserve Bank of India passed a statement in 2017, that they would not take the responsibility for any kind of damage, theft or loss of goods due to natural disasters.
But as the banks can not deny people for the safety of lockers, the Supreme Court has provided some guidelines and regulations within a six months period, thereby giving the norms of keeping gold in bank lockers, so as to facilitate the locker management system. This rule of how to keep gold in bank lockers turned into an appeal, which had been filed by one of Kolkata's residents Amitabha Gupta, which was against the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, one of the laws.
What Did the Supreme Court Declare?
The Supreme Court verified the system that bank security management can not ignore the fact that they are not going to shoulder any duty or responsibility for the security of keeping gold in bank lockers. The Supreme Court declared that the clients do not have to depend fully on the banking locking and management rules. In such situations, the people should not be dependent totally on the mercy of the banks.
Such actions taken by the bank would not only violate the rules of the Consumer Protection Act but also affect the investor's confidence and harm or spoil the reputation of the banks. Therefore the concept to keep gold in a bank locker would remain an invaluable record.
Are Bank Lockers Safe?
Bank lockers are rather safest places to keep your assets, gold, jewellery, and most of the top secret files and folders, than your home safety lockers. The privatized banks and government banks would definitely charge you something for your total security and safety. There would be nominal charges like Rs.1,000 for smaller items, as well as upto Rs.10,000/- for more precious goods and valid documents.
These bank lockers are much more reliable and secure than your home lockers, as there is tough security and constant CCTV surveillance. These would guard your valuable goods and gold ornaments, because at home you may not be able to keep a constant watch on your reliable assets.
It is also mandatory to spend a one-time registration cost, which would depend on the size and type of locker you have chosen. SBI charges Rs.500/-for registering along with GST for small and medium lockers. And for the larger vaults, the SBI would surely charge a bit higher like Rs.1,000/- plus the GST.
Something to be Kept in Mind Before Choosing Bank Lockers for Safety and Security?
People generally look for bank security to safeguard their jewellery, ornaments, and property papers. But you should also keep in mind what would happen to these if there is a natural calamity, disaster, theft, burglary, or damages caused within the banks. Previously you were not able to claim for any kind of loss or damage.
There had been incidents when the owners were not provided with any compensation for these kinds of incidents. To bring some measures and protections, the Reserve Bank of India declared a new rule to this system. The bank would compensate you in cases of theft, spreading of fire, or fraudulent acts.
Before this session is going to come to a final decision, you should be very careful and alert before approaching the banks. As you know, most things are conditional and work on the policy of give and take. You can be rest assured that most of your gold, jewels, and vital documents would be taken care of, provided you abide by the rules and policies as entrusted.