From next month you can have up to four nominees for your bank account and locker

From next month, you will be able to have as many as four nominees for your bank accounts and lockers, up from just one currently. The government on Thursday said some key provisions of the Banking Laws (Amendment Act), 2025, including changes to nomination guidelines, will come into effect from November 1. The government had previously notified the public that sections 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the law would come into force next month. These include rules relating to nominees for deposit accounts, articles held in safe custody, and the contents of bank lockers. Under the new terms, customers can nominate up to four people, either simultaneously or consecutively, to simplify settlement of claims for depositors and their nominees. As far as bank boxes are concerned, only consecutive nominations are allowed. Consecutive nominations mean that the next nominee only comes into effect upon the death of the previous one, ensuring continuity in settlement and clarity of succession. The finance ministry said in a statement that depositors must also specify the percentage of justice for each nominee, to ensure that they total 100%. These provisions will give depositors the flexibility to appoint nominees as per their preference, while ensuring uniformity, transparency and efficiency in claim settlement across the banking system, the ministry added. The Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025, which outline the procedure and prescribed forms for making, canceling or specifying multiple nominations, will be published in due course to operationalize these provisions uniformly across all banks, it said. What are the goals of the amendment? The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 amends the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the State Bank of India Act, 1955, the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of S, 9, Under 4, 8, 8, 8. 5, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 of the Act came into force from 1 August. The legislation aims, among other things, to strengthen governance standards in the sector, to ensure uniform reporting by banks to the Reserve Bank of India, improve depositor and investor protection, improve audit quality in public sector banks, and increase convenience through improved nomination facilities. It also provides for the rationalization of the tenure of directors, except the chairman and whole-time directors, in co-operative banks. Another objective is to reduce the rising level of unclaimed bank deposits. According to the RBI, public sector banks had unclaimed deposits worth ₹58,330.26 crore as of June 2025, while the private sector had ₹8,673.72 crore.