Beginning November 1, 2025, bank customers will be able to nominate up to four individuals for their deposit accounts and lockers, as part of the key provisions of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The move aims to ensure greater uniformity, transparency and efficiency in claim settlements across the banking system, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The amendment also comes into effect at a time when the government has initiated a nationwide campaign to return unclaimed deposits. A lack of claim by nominees is among the reasons for ₹75,000 crore worth of such deposits accumulating in the RBI’s Depositor Education and Awareness Fund as of August 2025.
Under the revised norms, depositors may nominate up to four persons specifying the percentage share or entitlement for each nominee totalling 100 per cent, either simultaneously or successively, offering flexibility in managing succession and claim settlement.
For safe custody articles and lockers, however, only successive nominations will be permitted. In cases of successive nominations, the entitlement of the next nominee becomes effective only upon the death of the previous one, ensuring clarity and continuity in settlement.
The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, notified on April 15, 2025, introduces 19 amendments across five key legislations — the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, Banking Regulation Act, 1949, State Bank of India Act, 1955, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Acts of 1970 and 1980.
The Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025, which will prescribe the procedures and forms for making, cancelling or modifying nominations, will be notified shortly to operationalise the new provisions uniformly across banks, the finance ministry said.
The Act also seeks to strengthen governance and audit standards, improve depositor and investor protection and enhance customer convenience. It provides for the rationalisation of the tenure of directors, other than the chairman and whole-time directors, in co-operative banks.
