What happens when Bank locker keys are lost in India ?
Almost everyone keeps their valuable belongings and very important documents in a locker provided by the bank. Bank lockers provide maximum security to the valuable articles. But it is a strange territory if one loses his / her part of keys of the safety bank locker. Then there are some crucial steps one must take so that to gain access to the bank locker once again. A bank locker is a safety box which is kept in a particular branch in a secured vault. Every bank locker has two set of keys, one with the bank and another with the customer. Both key combinations are required for opening the bank locker.
Opening of a new bank locker
When a customer opens a new bank locker, he gets access to the locker, but the access is partial. The customer is given one key of the vault and another key is kept with the bank. On successful application of both keys, the locker opens. There is no question of duplicate keys at all, hence providing maximum safety to the belongings kept in the vault. The manufacturers of bank lockers like Godrej only produce two master keys of each locker. The banks generally charge for breaking charges of lockers as per RBI guidelines. They take the breaking charges in the first place in advance, when the customer opts for a bank locker. But in some cases, this breaking charge of lockers is taken after the case arises of lost key by locker owner.
Intimating bank regarding key loss of locker
When you lose the key of your locker given to you by the bank, the first and foremost step to be taken is to send an intimation regarding the matter to the appropriate authority. You should send the intimation of loss of your locker key to the branch manager of the bank either through mail or through an application. This action denies any further access to your locker by any other person. The bank seals the locker and even one having its keys, except the owner cannot open the locker. After that you must visit the bank to regain access of your locker.
Process of opening the locker
Once you report fort loss of key of your bank locker to the bank authorities, they will stop any access to the locker. Then you should visit the bank to get the matter fixed. The bank has one key with them but it is not sufficient to open up your locker. So they call up the company which manufactured the locker. The representatives of the locker company will visit the bank to open the blocked locker. Either they will arrange to prepare a duplicate customer key of the locker, or they will break the locker.
Presence of owner is very important
When the bank starts the procedure of opening the blocked locker due to loss of keys by the locker owner, it is very important for the owner to be present in that spot. This is done to avoid any further dispute regarding the loss of any articles kept inside the locker. The articles are safely taken out and are kept in another box in sealed condition in presence of three parties, the bank officials, the locker manufacturing company members visiting the bank and the owner of the locker. Then the owner then opts for a new locker and another key is given to him / her. The contents of the old locker are transferred to the new one.
Expenses when the locker key is lost
Different banks have different rates of locker facilities given to the customers. The lockers are available in different sizes also. But when the owner of the locker looses the key, the bank charges a breakage charge. Sometimes this charge if taken in advance from the customers, while opening the bank locker. If not, it is charged after the entire process of opening the locker is completed. The expense includes the travelling cost of the representatives of the locker manufacturing company who are visiting the bank. If the matter settles by providing a duplicate key, then the expenses are comparatively low. The locker manufacturing company have higher charges when the locker is cut open. The locker recovery charges depend on the size of the locker also. A bigger locker attracts a higher charge for its breaking while a small sized locker takes less manpower and expense.
Why keeping the locker key is crucial?
Every owner who owns a bank locker must keep the locker key provided by the bank securely. Bank lockers are meant to keep those valuables which are considered of great importance and keeping them in houses might be unsafe. Valuable like precious jewellery, property papers, rare collectibles, other crucial documents are generally kept inside a bank locker. Every bank locker has two double lock protection which opens with a combination of two keys. One key is with the bank and other with the locker owner. When the key of the locker is lost, it might get into hands of some mischievous person. There is a huge risk of losing the locker articles as you cannot trust the bank officials on their security and validation checks before allowing someone access a locker. Hence, if there is a negligence of duty on part of bank officials then there is a great chance of losing the locker belongings. Also, losing a bank locker keys invites unnecessary harassment. There is also a financial loss due to a small mistake.
Other Articles
