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Locker closed, 47L jewellery missing: Lady wins relief

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Ms Marwah discovered in September 2018 that her facility had purportedly been surrendered years earlier in January 2015, even though rent continued to be debited as late as September 25, 2018. While the bank argued that lockers are only accepted empty, the bench rejected the claim due to the absence of surrender receipts or inventory records. Consequently, the consumer commission ordered the lender to refund the full value of the lost assets alongside legal expenses and compensation for mental agony.

Key points

  • Financial institutions face strict liability when they cannot provide formal inventories…: Financial institutions face strict liability when they cannot provide formal inventories or surrender documentation for customer lockers.
  • Continuing to collect rental fees undermines a bank's defense that a safety deposit box w…: Continuing to collect rental fees undermines a bank's defense that a safety deposit box was previously surrendered.
  • The awarded compensation includes the total Rs 47 lakh valuation accompanied by 6% simple…: The awarded compensation includes the total Rs 47 lakh valuation accompanied by 6% simple interest spanning multiple years.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Most Indian families normally rent a bank locker, either individually or jointly. But what would you do if you one day find out that your bank had surrendered the locker years ago, continued to charge you annual rent, and even misplaced your items?

This happened with Delhi-based Ms Marwah, who found that the bank had already surrendered her locker, and jewellery worth approximately Rs 47 lakh was missing. The bank never informed the lady about the surrender; instead, it kept charging annual rent, according to her complaint.

Ms Marwah approached Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, seeking Rs 47 lakh compensation with 18% interest, along with an additional Rs 1.5 lakh as litigation costs, mental agony etc.

Years later, when Ms Marwah approached the bank on 01.09.2018 to operate and access the locker, she was informed that the locker was surrendered on 22.01.2015, but not to the bank.

Further, there was no notice given to the bank for locker surrender, nor was there any notice received by Ms Marwah that the locker had been allotted to someone else, she alleged.…

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