Policy on settlement of claims in respect of Deceased Depositors

To facilitate expeditious and hassle-free settlement of claims on the death of a depositor the Bank’s policy is as under:

1. Access to balance in deposit accounts

(A) Accounts with survivor/nominee clause

In the case of deposit accounts where the depositor had utilized the nomination facility and made a valid nomination or where the account was opened with the survivorship clause ("either or survivor", or "anyone or survivor", or "former or survivor" or "latter or survivor"), the payment of the balance in the deposit account to the survivor(s)/nominee of a deceased deposit account holder represents a valid discharge of the bank's liability provided :

• The identity of the survivor(s) / nominee is well established and the fact of death of the account holder, through appropriate documentary evidence is produced;
  
  
• There is no order from the competent court restraining the bank from making the payment from the account of the deceased; and
  
  
• It has been made clear to the survivor(s) / nominee that he would be receiving the payment from the bank as a trustee of the legal heirs of the deceased depositor, i.e., such payment to him shall not affect the right or claim which any person may have against the survivor(s) / nominee to whom the payment is made.

Since payment made to the survivor(s) / nominee, subject to the foregoing conditions, would constitute a full discharge of the bank's liability, insistence on production of legal representation is superfluous and unwarranted. In such case, therefore, while making payment to the survivor(s) / nominee of the deceased depositor, the bank will not insist for production of succession certificate, letter of administration or probate, etc., or obtain any bond of indemnity or surety from the survivor(s)/nominee, irrespective of the amount standing to the credit of the deceased account holder.

(B) Accounts without the Survivor/Nominee clause

In case where the deceased depositor had not made any nomination or for the accounts other than those styled as "either or survivor" (such as single or jointly operated accounts), bank has adopted a simplified procedure for repayment to legal heir(s) of the depositor keeping in view the imperative need to avoid inconvenience and undue hardship to the common person. In this context, bank has fixed up a minimum threshold limit, for the balance in the account of the deceased depositors, up to which claims in respect of the deceased depositors could be settled without insisting on production of any documentation other than a letter of indemnity. The thresh hold limits are enunciated in Bank’s Publication of Discretionary Administrative Powers for Domestic Operations, Item No. Point No.1.1 which may be exercised by the respective Branch Managers/Functional Heads.

2. Premature termination of term deposit accounts

"In the case of term deposits, in the event of the death of the depositor, premature termination of term deposits would be allowed. Such premature withdrawal would not attract any penal charge".

3. Treatment of flows in the name of the deceased depositor

In order to avoid hardship to the survivor(s) / nominee of a deposit account, bank will obtain appropriate agreement / authorization from the survivor(s) / nominee with regard to the treatment of pipeline flows in the name of the deceased account holder. In this regard, bank will consider adopting either of the following two approaches:

• The bank could be authorized by the survivor(s) / nominee of a deceased account holder to open an account styled as 'Estate of Shri ________________, the Deceased' where all the pipeline flows in the name of the deceased account holder could be allowed to be credited, provided no withdrawals are made.
  
  OR
  
  
• The bank could be authorized by the survivor(s) / nominee to return the pipeline flows to the remitter with the remark "Account holder deceased" and to intimate the survivor(s) / nominee accordingly. The survivor(s) / nominee / legal heir(s) could then approach the remitter to effect payment through a negotiable instrument or through ECS transfer in the name of the appropriate beneficiary.

4. Access to the safe deposit lockers / safe custody articles

For dealing with the requests from the nominee(s) of the deceased locker-hirer / depositors of the safe-custody articles (where such a nomination had been made) or by the survivor(s) of the deceased (where the locker / safe custody article was accessible under the survivorship clause), for access to the contents of the locker / safe custody article on the death of a locker hirer / depositor of the article, the banks will adopt generally the foregoing approach, mutatis mutandis, as indicated for the deposit accounts.

5. Time limit for settlement of claims

Banks will settle the claims in respect of deceased depositors and release payments to survivor(s) / nominee(s) within a period not exceeding 15 days from the date of receipt of the claim subject to the production of proof of death of the depositor and suitable identification of the claim(s), to the bank's satisfaction.