Starting November 1, 2025, new rules under the Banking Laws Amendment Act, 2025 will take effect. From now bank customers in India will be allowed to name up to four nominees for Deposit accounts (like savings, fixed deposits, etc.), Articles kept in safe custody and Bank lockers. Until now, most people could only name one nominee. The new rules will make things more flexible and clearer.
What’s Changing in the Rules?
For deposit accounts (like savings or fixed deposits):
- customer can name up to four people (family or others) as nominees. Customer can also mention what percentage each person will get ((for example, 50% to one person, 25% to another, etc and the total must be 100%).
- This is called simultaneous nomination, because all nominees can inherit together based on the percentage you decide.
- Can also choose successive nomination, where if one nominee dies, the next person on the list becomes the nominee.
For lockers or articles in safe custody:
- Customer can name up to four nominees here also but the rule will only allow successive nomination. Means the first nominee gets rights initially. If the first nominee passes away, the next one becomes eligible, and so on.
Why this matters?
A lot of money in banks goes unclaimed because the account holder dies, and there’s no nominee or the nominee isn’t aware of the account. According to The Hindu report:
As of June 30, 2025 Public sector banks had ₹58,330 crore of unclaimed deposits and Private banks had ₹8,674 crore. If an account isn’t used or claimed for 10 years, the money goes to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Individual can still claim it later from your bank, with applicable interest. Allowing multiple nominees should make it easier for families to claim the money and reduce unclaimed deposits.
It makes it easier for families to claim money or belongings after someone’s death.
It avoids confusion and disputes because shares or order of nominees are clearly recorded.
It improves transparency and efficiency for both customers and banks.
Other things the new law covers:
The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 also aims to:
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Improve how banks are governed and audited.
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Ensure banks follow uniform rules under the RBI.
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Protect depositors and investors better.
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Make banking processes (like nominations) more customer-friendly.
Other parts of the same law (focused on better governance and auditing in public sector banks) already started on August 1, 2025.
This new nomination rule is the next step to make the banking system more customer-friendly and well-governed.
The government will soon issue detailed Banking Companies Nomination Rules, 2025, explaining:
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How to make or cancel nominations.
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The exact forms to use.
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How banks should handle multiple nominees.