Question: A customer had registered a valid nominee for their safe deposit locker. After the customer's death, the nominee submitted the required documents to the bank. Despite confirming the nominee's entitlement, the bank refused to allow access to the locker until all legal heirs provide their consent. In light of the RBI Master Circular on Customer Service in Banks, 2014, did the bank act in accordance with the prescribed procedure?
Answer: No, where a valid survivor or nominee clause exists and the nominee's identity and entitlement have been verified, the bank should allow access to safe deposit locker in accordance with the prescribed procedure. Insisting on consent from all legal heirs solely because the customer has died is not consistent with RBI guidelines.

Supporting evidence:
title: rbi.org.in/72MC010714CS.pdf
quote: If the sole locker hirer nominates a person, banks should give to such nominee access of the locker and liberty to remove the contents of the locker in the event of the death of the sole locker hirer insistence on production of legal representation is superfluous and unwarranted and only serves to cause entirely avoidable inconvenience to the survivor(s) / nominee(s) and would, therefore, invite serious supervisory disapproval
context: deceased (where the locker / safe custody article was accessible under the survivorship clause), for access to the contents of the locker / safe custody article on the death of a locker hirer / depositor of the article, the banks are advised to adopt generally the foregoing approach, mutatis mutandis, as indicated for the deposit accounts. Detailed guidelines in this regard are, however, as follows:

21.1 Access to the safe deposit lockers / return of safe custody articles (with survivor/nominee clause)

21.1.1 If the sole locker hirer nominates a person, banks should give to such nominee access of the locker and liberty to remove the contents of the locker in the event of the death of the sole locker hirer. In case the locker was hired jointly with the instructions to operate it under joint signatures, and the locker hirer(s) nominates person(s), in the event of death of any of the locker hirers, the bank should give access of the locker and the liberty to remove the contents jointly to the survivor(s) and the nominee(s). In case the locker was hired jointly with survivorship clause and the hirers instructed that the access of the locker should be given over to "either or survivor", "anyone or survivor" or "former or survivor" or according to any other survivorship clause, banks should follow the mandate in the event of the death of one or more of the locker-hirers.

21.1 Access to the safe deposit lockers / return of safe custody articles (with survivor/nominee clause)

- 21.1.2 However, banks should take the following precautions before handing over the contents:
- (a) Banks should exercise due care and caution in establishing the identity of the survivor(s) / nominee(s) and the fact of death of the locker hirer by obtaining appropriate documentary evidence;
- (b) Banks should make diligent effort to find out if there is any order from a competent court restraining the bank from giving access to the locker of the deceased; and
- (c) Banks should make it clear to the survivor(s) / nominee(s) that access to locker / safe custody articles is given to them only as a trustee of the legal heirs of the deceased locker hirer i.e., such access given to him shall not affect the right or claim which any person may have against the survivor(s) / nominee(s) to whom the access is given. Similar procedure should be followed for return of articles placed in the safe custody of the bank. Banks should note that the facility of nomination is not available in case of depos