The claim date that matters is the bank’s receipt of all required documents, not automatically the customer’s death or the family’s first visit. For covered commercial banks, deposit claims must be settled within fifteen calendar days. For lockers and articles in safe custody, the fifteen-day obligation is to process the claim and communicate for fixing an inventory date. Treating both as an identical cash-payment deadline produces the wrong compliance test.
This guide uses the RBI Commercial Banks — Responsible Business Conduct Directions, 2025, updated 1 October 2026, Chapter VII, paragraphs 282 and 315–323, checked on 25 October 2026. The official current Directions listing confirms that updated version. Paragraph 282 makes this claims section applicable from 1 April 2026. The article is confined to commercial banks as defined in these Directions; excluded bank categories need their own applicable Directions. Government savings schemes administered by banks, including PPF and SCSS, follow their respective scheme provisions and are excluded from this section.
Get an acknowledgement and a completeness confirmation
Paragraphs 315–317 require standardised forms, published document requirements and receipt of claims at any branch against acknowledgement. If documents are incomplete or incorrect, the bank should identify the pending documents while acknowledging the claim. Once all required documents arrive, obtain confirmation of that fact. Keep the initial submission date, deficiency communication, final submission and completeness confirmation separately.
Paragraph 318 permits an online claim facility; it does not require every bank to provide the same online interface. Where that facility is used, preserve the acknowledgement, uploaded documents and status record. If original documents are required for verification, the paragraph allows production at any branch. Do not assume a website status reading “submitted” conclusively proves completeness.
Apply the correct fifteen-calendar-day obligation
Paragraph 319 requires deposit-account settlement within fifteen calendar days after all required documents are received. Paragraph 320 requires the bank to process a locker/safe-custody claim and communicate with claimants for fixing the inventory date within the same period. The latter is not an unconditional promise that all locker contents will be valued and delivered within fifteen days. Inventory, claimant representation and other substantive requirements still matter.
Maintain an event register containing the completeness date, applicable deadline, actual settlement or communication date and the cause of any delay. Calendar days include intervening weekends; do not silently use fifteen working days. The date examples below count elapsed days from the following day and assume the stated deadline is accepted in the claim record. They do not resolve a disputed completeness date or court restraint.
Deposit delay uses Bank Rate, while locker delay uses a daily amount
Under paragraph 321, an unsettled deposit claim requires communication of reasons for delay. Where the delay is attributable to the bank, compensation is interest at not less than the prevailing Bank Rate plus four percentage points per annum, on the settlement amount due, for the period of delay. Both the amount due and the Bank Rate are referenced to the date all required documents were received. Bank Rate is not interchangeable with the repo rate, savings rate or a later settlement-date rate.
Under paragraph 322, failure to adhere to paragraph 320’s locker/safe-custody timeline requires compensation of ₹5,000 for each day of delay. Test the actual required processing-and-communication event; a later mutually fixed inventory appointment does not by itself prove a breach of paragraph 320. Do not confuse this measure with locker-loss compensation or property-document release compensation under other provisions.
All example Bank Rates are hypothetical inputs, not assertions about RBI’s actual rate on any date. The interest illustrations use a simple actual-days/365 convention, rounded to paise; the Directions specify the annual minimum rate but these examples do not claim a prescribed rounding or day-count convention. Obtain the bank’s supported calculation and challenge any result below the applicable minimum.
Preserve claimant status and substantive conditions
Paragraphs 284–286 distinguish valid discharge to nominees or survivors from the ultimate rights of legal heirs. The required identity/death evidence and absence of a known restraining court order remain relevant; a nominee is not automatically the absolute beneficial owner. For joint accounts, nominee rights arise after the death of all depositors. No-nomination claims have their own document routes, which should not be replaced by the nominee route merely to accelerate processing. For nominee or survivor payments satisfying paragraph 284, paragraph 286 prohibits insisting on a succession certificate, letter of administration, probate, or an indemnity or surety bond, irrespective of the balance. Apply the documents required for the actual claim route rather than importing those barred requirements. Paragraph 323 extends the applicable claim procedure to sole-proprietary deposit accounts. This article focuses on the deadline and compensation file, not a universal entitlement decision.
Six worked illustrations
All facts and amounts below are fictional. Assumptions describe the model, not additional statutory rules.
Illustrative example 1: Separate deadline from settlement date
All required deposit-claim documents are received on 1 September 2026. On the stated elapsed-day convention, fifteen days ends on 16 September. Settlement on 20 September is four days later. The compensation analysis therefore uses four delay days, subject to paragraph 321’s bank-attributable-delay condition.
Illustrative example 2: Initial lodging is not the complete-document date
A claim is first lodged on 1 September but missing required documents arrive on 8 September. The accepted completeness date is 8 September and the model deadline is 23 September. The seven-day gap between the two submissions is not automatically bank delay under this clock.
Illustrative example 3: Calculate a deposit-delay minimum
Assume a settlement amount due of ₹3,65,000 and a hypothetical Bank Rate of 6% on the completeness date. Minimum annual rate is 6% + 4 percentage points = 10%. For four bank-attributable delay days on actual/365, compensation is ₹3,65,000 × 10% × 4/365 = ₹400.00.
Illustrative example 4: Use the reference-date rate
Assume ₹7,30,000 due, a hypothetical completeness-date Bank Rate of 5.5%, and ten bank-attributable delay days. Minimum annual rate is 9.5%; the illustrative calculation is ₹7,30,000 × 9.5% × 10/365 = ₹1,900.00. A later rate change is not substituted for the paragraph 321 reference-date input.
Illustrative example 5: Measure the locker communication breach
All required locker-claim documents arrive on 1 September. Assume the accepted paragraph 320 deadline is 16 September, but required processing and communication occur on 19 September. Three delay days × ₹5,000 = ₹15,000. This tests the communication obligation, not the market value of locker contents.
Illustrative example 6: Reconcile the settlement amount due
Assume the confirmed settlement amount on the completeness date is principal ₹8,00,000 plus accrued interest ₹20,000, total ₹8,20,000. At a hypothetical 6% Bank Rate plus four points, five bank-attributable delay days give ₹8,20,000 × 10% × 5/365 = ₹1,123.29, rounded to paise. Using only ₹8,00,000 would omit ₹20,000 from the stipulated settlement base.
Ten-step verification table
| Step | Action | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Identify the bank framework | Covered commercial-bank classification and current Directions. |
| 2 | Exclude scheme-specific accounts | PPF, SCSS or other applicable scheme documentation. |
| 3 | Identify the claim route | Deposit versus locker/safe custody and claimant status. |
| 4 | Obtain the actual requirements | Standard form and bank-published document list. |
| 5 | Record initial acknowledgement | Submission and any document-deficiency record. |
| 6 | Confirm document completeness | Bank confirmation of receipt of all required documents. |
| 7 | Calculate the correct clock | Fifteen calendar days and the required event under paragraph 319 or 320. |
| 8 | Prove actual performance | Deposit settlement or processing/communication date. |
| 9 | Compute applicable compensation | Attribution evidence, reference-date Bank Rate and amount due, or daily locker calculation. |
| 10 | Reconcile the response and receipt | Reasons for delay, calculation, payment and unresolved discrepancy trail. |
Sixteen practitioner FAQs
1. Does the clock begin on death automatically?
No. The cited timeline starts on receipt of all required claim documents.
2. Does the first branch visit always establish that date?
No. Keep acknowledgement and document-completeness evidence separately.
3. Are these working-day deadlines?
No. The paragraphs specify calendar days.
4. Can a claim be lodged at another branch?
Paragraph 317 allows lodging at any branch against acknowledgement.
5. Must every bank offer identical online filing?
Paragraph 318 permits an online facility; check the actual bank’s available route.
6. What should an incomplete-document acknowledgement contain?
The list of pending, incomplete or incorrect documents under paragraph 317.
7. Is a deposit claim’s required event only an acknowledgement?
No. Paragraph 319 requires settlement within the stated period.
8. Must locker contents always be delivered within fifteen days?
Paragraph 320 specifies processing and communication to fix the inventory date; distinguish that from later inventory and delivery.
9. What triggers deposit-delay compensation?
Delay attributable to the bank after the paragraph 319 timeframe, on paragraph 321’s terms.
10. Is the compensation rate the repo rate plus four points?
No. The provision uses Bank Rate plus four percentage points per annum.
11. Which date fixes the Bank Rate and amount due?
The date of receipt of all required documents from the claimant.
12. Are the example rates actual RBI rates?
No. They are explicit hypothetical inputs; retrieve the actual reference-date Bank Rate for a real claim.
13. What is the locker/safe-custody delay amount?
₹5,000 for each day of failure to adhere to paragraph 320’s timeline.
14. Does a nominee necessarily inherit the money absolutely?
The Directions preserve legal-heir rights and describe receipt subject to the stated trustee position and other conditions.
15. Are sole-proprietary deposit accounts ignored?
No. Paragraph 323 applies the relevant claim procedure to those accounts.
16. Do these rules override PPF and SCSS claim provisions?
No. Paragraph 282 excludes government savings schemes administered by banks from this section.
Conclusion
For covered commercial banks, RBI starts the fifteen-calendar-day clock when all required claim documents are received. Deposit settlement and locker processing have different required outcomes and compensation measures; preserve the completeness confirmation and dated response.