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Section 45ZE of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949: Release of Contents of Safety Lockers

Section 45ZE regulates nomination for bank lockers and the release of locker contents after the death of a locker hirer. The provision must now be read with the 2025 amendment to sub-section (1) and the Reserve Bank of India directions governing inventory, identification and settlement of deceased locker claims.

Updated: 14 September 2026
Important amendment: With effect from 1 November 2025, Section 45ZE(1) permits one or more individuals hiring a locker to nominate one or more persons, not exceeding four, successively. The successive nominee becomes entitled in the order recorded, subject to the statutory provision and applicable banking procedure.

What Section 45ZE provides

The section deals with who may be nominated for a safety locker, when a bank may give access after the death of a hirer, the inventory that must be prepared before removal of the contents, and the extent to which the bank is discharged after acting in accordance with the section.

Current text of Section 45ZE

(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.

For the authoritative and updated statutory text, refer to India Code from the official sources in the sidebar.

Meaning and practical effect of Section 45ZE

1. Nomination for a locker

A nomination identifies the person or persons whom the bank may allow to access the locker and remove its contents after the death contemplated by the section. Under the amended sub-section (1), up to four persons may be nominated successively. This is a significant change from the earlier wording of the provision.

2. Jointly operated lockers

Where a locker is hired by two or more individuals and is contractually operable under joint signatures, Section 45ZE(2) permits nomination so that, on the death of the relevant joint hirer or hirers, access may be given jointly to the nominee and the surviving joint hirer or hirers, as applicable.

3. Inventory before contents are removed

Before a nominee, or a nominee together with surviving hirers, removes the contents, the bank must prepare an inventory in the manner directed by the Reserve Bank of India. The inventory must be signed by the person or persons receiving access, and a copy must be delivered to them.

4. Discharge of the bank

When the locker contents are removed in accordance with Section 45ZE, sub-section (5) provides that the bank's liability in relation to those contents stands discharged. Sub-section (6) also protects the bank against proceedings for permitting access in accordance with sub-sections (1) or (2).

RBI directions for deceased locker claims

The Reserve Bank's revised locker instructions require banks to verify the death certificate and the identity and genuineness of the claimant before allowing access. Where the statutory and contractual requirements are met, an inventory must be taken before the contents are removed.

Banks are also required to settle claims relating to deceased locker hirers and release the locker contents to the survivor or nominee, as applicable, within a period not exceeding 15 days from receipt of the claim, subject to satisfactory proof of death and identification and subject to circumstances such as pending litigation or difficulty in identifying the true claimant.

Nominee and legal heirs

Access given by the bank to a nominee or survivor under the applicable nomination or survivorship arrangement does not by itself decide all questions of beneficial ownership or succession between private claimants. RBI instructions require banks to make clear that access given to a nominee or survivor does not prejudice rights or claims that another person may have against the recipient.

Related provisions

Section 45ZE should be read with Section 45ZF, which deals with notices of claims by other persons in relation to safety lockers, and with the nomination framework in Sections 45ZA to 45ZG of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Key points at a glance