The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the guidelines governing bank locker agreements and instructed banks to obtain signatures from customers on the updated agreement prior to the December 31, 2023, deadline. Additionally, banks have been instructed by the central bank to “assist in the execution of the new/supplementary stamped agreements with their clients by implementing procedures like setting up stamp papers, franking, electronic agreement execution, e-stamping, etc. and furnishing the client with a copy of the executed agreement.”
Over the past year, the RBI has multiple times extended the deadlines for banks to finalize the updated locker agreements. At first, it was meant to be completed by December 31, 2022, which was the deadline set by the RBI. Nevertheless, RBI extended the deadline on January 23 after observing that many customers were still having difficulty signing the new agreement.
“Banks are advised to notify all their customers of the revised requirements by April 30, 2023 and ensure that at least 50 percent and 75 percent of their existing customers have executed the revised agreements by June 30 and September 30, 2023 respectively. Banks shall report the status of compliance with these instructions on the DAKSH supervisory portal of the Reserve Bank on a monthly basis,” RBI circular stated.