RBI to make process easy for legal heirs claiming money from bank accounts of deceased customers

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Wednesday that it has decided to standardise and simplify the procedure for settlement of claims in respect of deposit accounts of deceased customers of banks so that bereaved families do not face any hardship in getting the money or valuables due to them.

Currently, the procedure for settling claims in respect of deceased customers varies across banks. The RBI has decided to streamline and standardise these across all banks to facilitate the settlement of these claims.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said, “We will be standardising the procedure for settlement of claims in respect of bank accounts, and articles kept in safe custody or safe deposit lockers of deceased bank customers. This is expected to make the settlement more convenient and simpler.”

A draft circular in this regard shall be issued shortly for public consultation, the RBI said.

Under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, a nomination facility is available in respect of deposit accounts, articles kept in safe custody or safe deposit lockers. This is intended to facilitate expeditious settlement of claims or return of articles or release of contents of safe deposit locker upon death of a customer and to minimise hardship caused to family members.

The extant instructions require banks to adopt a simplified procedure to facilitate expeditious and hassle-free settlement of claims made by survivors, nominees or legal heirs, but the procedures vary across banks.

“With a view to enhancing customer service standards, it has been decided to streamline the procedures and standardise the documentation to be submitted to the banks. A draft circular in this regard shall be issued shortly for public consultation,” the RBI statement said.

The RBI has also decided to introduce auto-bidding facilities in Retail Direct for Investment and Re-investment in T-bills.

“To enable investors to systematically plan their investments, an auto-bidding facility for Treasury bills (T-bills), covering both investment and re-investment options, has been enabled in Retail Direct. The new functionality helps investors to mandate automatic placement of bids in primary auctions of T-bills,” according to an RBI statement.

The Retail Direct portal was launched in November 2021 to facilitate retail investors to open their Gilt accounts with the Reserve Bank under the Retail Direct Scheme. The scheme allows retail investors to buy Government Securities (G-Secs) in primary auctions as well as buy and sell G-Secs in the secondary market. Since the launch of the Scheme, various new features, in terms of product as well as payment options, have been introduced, including the launch of a mobile app in May 2024.

–IANS