Settlement of Claims in Deposit accounts and Safe Deposit Locker in favour of legal heirs of Deceased Customer with Nominee(s) / Survivor(s).

I. Settlement of Claims in Deposit Accounts of Deceased Depositor

A. Accounts with nominee(s) / survivorship clause:

1. A deposit account where a depositor had made nomination in terms of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 or where the account was opened with survivorship clause, the payment of the outstanding balance upon the death of the depositor(s) to the nominee(s)/ survivor(s) shall be considered a valid discharge of a Bank’s liability.

2. In the case of a joint deposit account with or without survivorship clause, the nominee's right arises only after the death of all the depositors.

3. Payment made to the nominee(s)/ survivor(s), subject to the foregoing conditions, shall constitute a full and valid discharge of a Bank's liability. Therefore, in such cases, while making payment to the nominee(s) / survivor(s) of the deceased depositor(s), the Bank shall not insist on production of legal documents such as Succession Certificate, Letter of Administration, Probate of Will, etc., or seek any bond of indemnity/ surety from the nominee(s) / survivor(s) / third-party, irrespective of the amount standing to the credit of the deceased account holder(s). The Bank shall require submission of the following documents in such cases:

• Claim form, as given in Annex I-A, duly signed by the nominee(s)/ survivor(s);
• Death certificate of the deceased depositor(s);and
• Officially Valid Document of the nominee/survivor towards verifying her/ his identity and address.

B. Accounts without nominee/survivorship clause:

4. Simplified Procedure for settlement of claims:

Keeping in view the imperative need to avoid inconvenience and undue hardship to the legal heir(s)/ claimant(s), a Bank shall follow a simplified procedure for settlement of claims in respect of deposit accounts where the aggregate amount payable, including accrued interest, as on the date of the application is less than the threshold limit, provided

• a deceased depositor(s) had not made any nomination or in case of a joint account, the account was without nominee/ survivorship clause,
• there is no Will left behind by the deceased depositor(s),
• there is no contesting claim, and
• there is no order from a competent court in the knowledge of the Bank, restraining the claimant(s) from receiving nor the Bank from making the payment.

(a) Claim amount upto the threshold limit:

The Bank shall settle the claim upto the threshold limit based on

• Claim form, as given in Annex I-B, duly filled in and signed by the claimant(s) other than those who have signed the letter of disclaimer/ no objection;
• Death certificate of the deceased depositor(s);
• Officially Valid Document of the claimant(s) towards verifying his/ her identity and address;
• Bond of indemnity, as given in Annex I-C, signed by the claimant(s);
• Letter of disclaimer / no objection, as given in Annex I-D, from non-claimant legal heir(s), if applicable; and
• Legal Heir Certificate issued by a competent authority;

OR

Declaration, as given in Annex I-E, regarding the legal heir(s) of the deceased depositor(s) by an independent person who is well known to the family of the deceased, is not a party to the claim and is acceptable to the Bank.

No bond of surety from a third-party shall be obtained in case of claims up to the threshold limit.

(b) Claim amount above the threshold limit:

In cases where claim amount is above the threshold limit, the Bank shall settle the claim based on

• Succession Certificate and documents mentioned at clauses 4(a)(i) to (iii) above;        OR
• Legal Heir Certificate issued by a competent authority; or

Affidavit, as given in Annex I-E, sworn before a Notary Public/ Judge/ Judicial Magistrate regarding the legal heir(s) of the deceased depositor, by an independent person who is well known to the family of the deceased, is not a party to the claim and is acceptable to the Bank.

In such cases, the Bank shall call for the documents at clauses 4(a) (i) to (v) above,

The Bank may also call for a bond of surety, as given in Annex I-C, from third-party individuals (which may include non-claimant legal heir(s))  who are acceptable to the Bank and good for the claim amount.

5. Settlement of Claims not falling under the Simplified Procedure:

(a) Claims involving ‘Will’ without any dispute:

The Bank shall settle claims involving ‘Will’ left behind by a deceased deposit or on the basis of Probate of Will / Letter of Administration, as applicable, in addition to documents mentioned at clauses 4(a)(i) to (iii) above. In cases where a person other than a legal heir is named as a beneficiary in the Will, applicable documents shall also be obtained from her/ him.

However, the Bank is free to exercise discretion and act as per ‘Will’ of the deceased without requiring production of the probate of such Will, provided the same is not inconsistent with applicable laws, there is no dispute regarding the Will amongst the legal heir(s) and / or beneficiaries named in the Will and the Bank is otherwise satisfied as to the genuineness of the Will. In such cases, the Bank shall additionally call for the documents mentioned at clauses 4(a)(iv) and (v) above.

(b)Cases involving contesting claims / dispute:

In case of contesting claims or dispute amongst the legal heir(s) and/ or the beneficiaries named in the Will of the deceased depositor, the Bank shall settle claims on the basis of Probate of Will or Letter of Administration or Succession Certificate or Court order/ decree, as applicable, and the documents mentioned at clauses 4(a)(i) to (iii) above.  Further, where there is an order from a Court restraining the Bank from making the payment, the claim shall not be entertained during the period the order is in force. The settlement of claim shall be considered based on subsequent Court order to that effect.

(c) No bond of surety shall be insisted from a third party in cases falling under either paragraph 5(a) or 5(b).

I. Treatment of credits in the name of a deceased depositor post settlement:

6. Post settlement of the deposit account(s), in case any credit is received in the name of a deceased depositor, the Bank shall return the same to the remitter with the remark 'Account holder deceased' and intimate the nominee(s) / survivor(s) / legal heir(s).

J. Premature termination of term deposit accounts in case of depositor’s death:

7. A Bank shall incorporate a clause in the account opening form itself to the effect that in the event of death of the depositor, premature termination of term deposits would be allowed without any penal charge, even if the deposit is within the lock-in-period.

8. Premature termination of term deposits opened jointly, with or without survivorship clause, shall require the consent of the surviving depositors and the legal heir(s) of the deceased joint holder, in case of death of one of the depositors. However, in case of joint accounts with survivorship clause, if a specific mandate is furnished by all the depositors jointly to the Bank, either at the time of placing the term deposit or anytime subsequently during the tenure of the deposit, then premature withdrawal option shall be allowed to the survivors on the death of any of the depositors, without seeking the concurrence of the legal heir(s) of the deceased joint deposit holder.

K. Settlement of claims in respect of missing persons:

9. The nominee(s) / legal heir(s) of a missing person shall be required to get an order from the competent court under the provisions of Sections110 or 111 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023. The claim in respect of such missing person shall be settled as per the procedure applicable for settlement of claims in respect of a deceased customer. In such cases, a copy of the court order declaring the civil death of the account holder shall be obtained in lieu of the death certificate. However, to avoid inconvenience and undue hardship to the common person where the aggregate amount payable, including accrued interest, as on the date of the application is less than ₹1 lakh or such higher amount as may be fixed by the Bank, a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and non-traceable report issued by police authorities shall be obtained in lieu of death certificate or an order from a competent court declaring the civil death of the account holder for settling the claim.

II. Settlement of Claims in Safe Deposit Locker and Articles in Safe Custody by Deceased Customer:

--- If a sole locker hirer nominates an individual(s) to receive the contents in the locker in case of her/ his death, a Bank shall give access of the locker to such nominee(s) with liberty to collect the contents of the locker.

In case the locker was hired jointly with the instructions to operate it under joint signatures, and the locker hirers nominate any other individual(s), in the event of death of any of the locker hirers, the Bank shall give access of the locker and the liberty to collect the contents jointly to the nominee(s) and the survivor(s).

In case the locker was hired jointly with survivorship clause and the hirers instructed that the access of the locker should be given to "either or survivor", "anyone or survivor" or "former or survivor" or according to any other survivorship clause permissible under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Bank shall follow the mandate in the event of death of one or more of the joint locker hirers.

In case of a minor nominee, the Bank shall ensure that, the contents of locker, when sought to be collected   on behalf of the minor nominee, are handed over to the guardian whose details have been provided in the nomination form. If the details of the guardian have not been provided in the nomination form, the Bank shall handover the contents of the locker to a person who is, in law, competent to receive the contents of safe deposit locker on behalf of such minor.

The following documents shall be required for processing the claim in cases falling under with Nomination:

• Claim form, as given in Annex I-A, duly signed by the nominee(s)/ survivor(s);
• Death certificate of the safe deposit locker hirer(s); and
• Officially Valid Document of the nominee/survivor towards verifying her/ his identity and address.

The Bank shall, however, ensure the following before giving access to the contents to the nominee(s)/ survivor(s):

• Exercise due care and caution in establishing the identity of the nominee(s)/ survivor(s) and deceased status of the locker hirer(s) by obtaining appropriate documentary evidence (physical or equivalent e-document);
• There is no order or direction as on date from a Court/ Forum in the knowledge of the Bank, restraining the nominee(s) / survivor(s) from having access or the Bank from giving access to the locker of the deceased hirer(s) and liberty to remove the contents of such locker; and
• Make it clear to the nominee(s)/ survivor(s) that access and liberty to remove the contents of the locker is given to them only as a trustee of the legal heir(s) of the deceased locker hirer(s), i.e., such access and liberty to remove the contents given to them shall not affect the right or claim which any person may have against the nominee(s) / survivor(s) to whom the access is given.

After receipt of the documents mentioned above and being satisfied to the genuineness of the claim, the Bank shall correspond with the nominee(s)/ survivor(s) in writing and fix a date and time for making an inventory of the contents of the safe deposit locker. The same shall be under taken in the presence of the nominee(s) and/or survivor(s) and / or their authorised representatives, two independent witnesses (should not be employee or ex-employee of the bank), the safe deposit vault custodian and another employee of the bank not associated with locker operations, and recorded as per the inventory form given in Annex I-F. The Bank shall then hand over the possession of the contents of the locker to the nominee(s) / survivor(s)/ the person competent to receive the contents on behalf of the minor, as the case may be, and obtain an acknowledgment, as given in Annex I-F, that all the contents in the locker of the deceased hirer(s) have been removed and the locker is empty, and they have no objection to allotment of the locker to any other locker hirer as per norms of the bank.

Production of legal documents, viz., Succession Certificate, Letter of Administration, Probate of Will, etc., or Bond of indemnity from the nominee(s)/ survivor(s) shall not be required unless there is any discrepancy in nomination.

Cases without nominee/survivorship clause

Settlement of claims falling under the simplified procedure

Keeping in view the imperative need to avoid inconvenience and undue hardship to the legal heir(s) / claimant(s), a simplified procedure for settlement of claims in safe deposit lockers provided there is no dispute amongst the legal heir(s) / claimant(s) and

• The deceased locker hirer(s) had not made any nomination, or
• The joint hirers had not given any mandate that the access may be given to one or more of the survivors by a clear survivorship clause, or
• There is no ‘Will’ left behind by the deceased locker hirer.

(b) Incases falling under the simplified procedure, obtain the following documents to settle the claim without obtaining any legal documents such as Succession Certificate,  Letter of Administration, Court order, etc.

• Claim form, as given in Annex I-B, duly filled and signed by the claimant legal heir(s);

• Death certificate of the safe deposit locker hirer(s);

• Officially Valid Document of the claimant(s) towards verifying her/ his identity and address;

• Letter of disclaimer/no objection, as given in Annex I-D,  from non-claimant legal heir(s), if applicable; and

• Legal Heir Certificate issued by a competent authority or Affidavit, as given in Annex I-E, sworn before a Notary Public/ Judge/ Judicial Magistrate regarding the legal heir(s) of the deceased locker hirer(s) by an independent person who is well known to the family of the deceased, is not a party to the claim and is acceptable to the bank.

Settlement of Claims not falling under the Simplified Procedure

(a) Claims involving ‘Will’ without any dispute

The Bank shall settle claims involving ‘Will’ left behind by a deceased safe deposit locker hirer on the basis of Probate of Will/ Letter of Administration, as applicable, in addition to documents mentioned at  above.  In cases where a person other than a legal heir is named as a beneficiary in the Will, applicable documents shall also be obtained from her/ him.

However, the Bank may exercise discretion and act as per ‘Will’ of the deceased without requiring production of the probate of such Will, provided the same is not inconsistent with applicable laws, there is no dispute regarding the Will amongst the legal heir(s) and / or beneficiaries named in the Will and the Bank is otherwise satisfied as to the genuineness of the Will. In such cases, the Bank shall additionally call for the documents mentioned at above.

(b) Cases involving contesting claims/dispute:

Cases involving dispute amongst the legal heir(s) and/ or beneficiaries named in the Will, as applicable, shall be settled based on Probate of Will or Succession Certificate or Letter of Administration or Court order/ decree, as the case may be, and the documents mentioned at above.

Procedure for taking inventory of contents of safe deposit locker:

After receipt of the required documents in claims falling under categories at above and being satisfied to the genuineness of the claim, the Bank shall correspond with the claimant(s) in writing and fix a date and time for making an inventory of the contents of the safe deposit locker, as given in form prescribed in Annex I-F, in the presence of all claimant(s) or their duly authorized representatives, two independent witnesses (should not be employee or ex-employee of the bank), the safe deposit vault custodian and another employee of the bank not associated with locker operations. Valuation of the contents of the safe deposit locker shall be carried out by an independent valuer and recorded in the Bond of Indemnity as given in Annex I-H. The claimant(s) or their duly authorised representative(s) may remove the contents of the locker subsequent to submission of the Bond of Indemnity. Bond of Indemnity shall not be required to be given in cases of claims settled on the basis of legal documents such as Probate of Will or Succession Certificate or Letter of Administration or Court order/ decree, etc.

Procedure, as prescribed in above, shall be followed mutatis mutandis for return of articles kept by the deceased customer in the safe custody of the Bank. However, inventory form given in Annex I-G shall be used in such cases.

Operational and Compensation related aspects

Standardisation of procedure for submission of claims

The Bank shall use the standardised forms for receiving the claims and other documents as per the formats provided in Annex I-A to I-H.

Time limit for settlement of claims:

The Bank shall settle a claim in respect of deposit accounts of a deceased customer within a period not exceeding 15 calendar days from the date of receipt of all the required documents associated with the claim.

In case of safe deposit locker/ articles in safe custody, the Bank shall, within 15 calendar days of receipt of all the required documents, process the claim and communicate with the claimant(s) for fixing the date for making inventory of the locker/ articles in safe custody.

Compensation for delay in settlement of claims:

If any deposit related claim is not settled within the time frame stipulated at above, then the Bank shall communicate the reasons for such delay to the claimant(s).  Further, in cases of delay attributable to the bank, compensation shall be paid by the Bank in the form of interest, at a rate not less than the prevailing Bank Rate + 4% per annum, on the settlement amount due for the period of delay. The reference date for reckoning the amount due and the prevailing Bank Rate shall be the date of receipt of all required documents from the claimant.