Starting November 1, 2025, new rules under the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 will come into effect.
These changes will directly impact how customers make nominations for their bank accounts, lockers, and valuables kept in safe custody.
The main goal of this amendment is to make the nomination process simpler, more transparent, and flexible for depositors.
With these new rules, you’ll have more control over who inherits your funds or valuables in case of your death.
What’s Changing Under the New Nomination Rules
The new law, notified earlier in April 2025, introduces major reforms to make banking more customer-friendly.
The government has announced that Sections 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the Act—covering deposit accounts, lockers, and safe custody items—will officially come into effect on November 1, 2025.
Here’s what’s new:
Up to Four Nominations: You can now nominate as many as four people for your account or valuables.
Two Types of Nominations:
Simultaneous nominations – all nominees receive a fixed share of the money.
Successive nominations – the next nominee inherits only if the first nominee passes away.
Lockers and Safe Custody: For locker contents or safe custody items, only successive nominations will be allowed. This ensures a clear order of succession and avoids disputes.
Transparent Distribution: You can specify how much each nominee will get, ensuring the total adds up to 100%.
The Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025 will soon be published, explaining the process and forms for adding or updating nominations.
Why These Changes Matter
For customers, these new rules are a great opportunity to review and update existing nominations.
You can now plan how your savings or valuables will be distributed among family members or beneficiaries according to your wishes—without legal confusion later.
Earlier provisions of this Act, which came into force in August 2025, aimed at improving governance, strengthening audits in public sector banks, and protecting depositors’ interests.
Now, with this new nomination system, banks are taking another step toward becoming more transparent, fair, and customer-centric.
