Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

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I have heard from this one person that the bank employees sometime steal from the lockers in Pakistan, also that during riots these lockers get looted and you can’t even claim your loss. Even if you can claim the loss it is really a minimal amount.

If someone has knowledge about this or if you already hold a lockers please let me know if this is true.Thanks

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Good lord is anything in pakistan safe from theives??????

my family has been using lockers for a while now and no problem. btu we also have a family member who works in a bank, so maybe thas why.....

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Zardari is in power.

News source: AP-AFP

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

hmm.. my mom has kept a whole lot of her jewellary in paki lockers for ages now and nothing has been stolen.. and its not even a posh neighbourhood.. a simple tooti pooti branch of habib bank (or was it national bank of pakistan) in paposh nagar :D (nazimbad)

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Situation almost the same in Pakistan on BANK’s ruling !


***A trader in the Indian state of Bihar has lost his life savings after termites infesting his bank’s safe deposit boxes ate them up. ***

Dwarika Prasad had deposited currency notes and investment papers worth hundreds of thousands of rupees in a bank safe in the state capital Patna.

***The bank says it put up a notice warning customers of the termites. ***
Mr Prasad says he did not see it in time as he did not go to the bank for months after the notice went up.

***Bank officials admit they did not inform the customers individually about the termite problem. ***

***‘Shattered’ ***
***“I’m shattered. I do not know what to do as I had kept the money for my old age,” Mr Prasad said. ***
***The trader says he had deposited 450,000 rupees ($11,000) in currency notes, investment papers worth 232,000 rupees ($5,660) and some gold and silver jewellery in a safe deposit box of the government-owned Central Bank of India. ***
***Mr Prasad says that relations with his wife and children were strained and he wanted to put the money in the safe box to keep it safe from them. ***

***The locker had currency notes and documents worth thousands of dollars

He started using the safe box in September 2005. ***
***He says when he opened it on 29 January, there was nothing in the safe except termite dust and remains of currency notes and that his investment papers were “badly perforated”. ***
***The white ants did not even spare the ornaments and their sheen has vanished, he says. ***
***“I wrote to the head office of the Central Bank of India and the regional offices of the Reserve Bank of India,” Mr Prasad says. “Even after two months, I’m waiting for a response from them.” ***

***‘Not liable’ ***
***Bank authorities say they put up a notice, dated 8 May 2007, outside the locker room warning customers about the termite infestation. ***
***They advised customers to remove their documents and papers from their safe. ***
***“We received a few complaints of termites in safe deposit boxes so after putting on the notice, we got pesticides sprayed in the bank,” said bank manager YP Saha. ***
***Mr Saha says the customer cannot blame the bank because he did not find his locker broken or damaged. ***
***“The bank is not liable for the deposits kept inside the safe as it is only when a locker is found broken that the bank is answerable,” he said. ***
Bank authorities say they have forwarded Mr Prasad’s complaint to higher authorities but they say he is not entitled to any compensation for his loss

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

That's so sad :(

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

stuff in lockers is pretty safe. the area where the lockers are kept, in any branch is protected by a metal door i don't know how many inches thick. then the actual door to the locker is atleast 1 inch thick. so unless you're planning a heist with proper equipment you are not that likely to lose stuff during a riot. as for employees stealing things i can't see how that could happen because you need 2 keys, one key that is with the branch manager (and if he isn't available then the first officer or whatever they call them now) and the other key is with you, and you need both keys to open the locker. so all in all stuff is safe.

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

I've heard things like that(God knows if they were rumors or not)...but don't know any one who actually lost their stuff from a bank locker....

my mom has kept her stuff in lockers for as long as i can remember...even i have my stuff in a locker back in Pakistan....Allah ka shukar,its safe....:)...

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Thanks all for your replies. I was planning on getting a locker on my next visit to Pak, I think I'll go ahead with it.

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Dont lockers have two keys. Bank has one and the account holder has another and you cant open the locker till you use both at the same time

Can i make a club too??
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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

in a nice and well built bank that is how things are done... where my mom has her locker.. oh man... its just a normal aam sa door, maybe a bit thicker than normal ... with a kundi and a tala :D but ya.. it does come with 2 keys... we were thinkin of moving it to citibank but then thought.. hey its worked for us so far.. why change anything. :D

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Khumar has compelled me to speak out unofficially here...as a Banker without any obligation on the part of my Bank and its affiliates.

PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING LOCKER ROOM AT BRANCH:
Whenever a new branch is decided to be opened after express approval of the State Bank of Pakistan, there are at least 50 conditionalities which are to be meticulously followed.
The locker area or room or hall, is surrounded by a C-2 wall which is essentially of concerete with solid steel iron mesh in between the bricks of concerete making the wall. The LOCKER safe is essentially of STEEL and has different sizes from small to medium to large which has two keys. One key belongs to the locker account holder and one to the custodian at the Bank. The locker cannot be opened with a single key.

SECURITY OR PROTECTEDNESS OF LOCKERS:
The surrounding walls of locker room alongside the VERY heavy and at least ONE foot measuring huge IRON door is merged with the concerete wall which completely protects the strong room or locker room from any kind of human infiltration even if fire occurs or firearms like klashinakov or burst of pump action gun are infested upon it.

During the 27th Dec-07 SAGA in Pakistan when loot & arson took place--majorly of Bank's my Karachi Region's FIVE branches including Boating Basin at Clifton next to Bar-B-Q Tonite, were completely gutted...BUT not an iota of scratch or infiltration or wreckage of LOCKER room was reported or seen and customers were absolutely calm and fair-square when they rushed to their lockers on aftermath of the incidence.

There have been some reports in the past of locker room breakages by the Bank's own guards or the outsourced guards from various agencies--which led to strict and extra security measures and (touchwood) no incidence of locker breakage or theft have been reported for as good as a decade now..at any Bank of Pakistan.

There have been umpteenth cases where the lockers were seen left unlocked and open by the customers--when the custodian immediately adopted high security and personally called the customers to remind them of their mistake on which the customers did offer heavy cash awards which were turned down as it was the duty of the concerned custodian--while as Regional Chief...I took care in awarding the custodian a promotion or some certificate for going an extra mile or even cash award from the Bank.

All in all...........there is a very strict rulling on maintenance of security at LOCKERS by adopting all the laid down procedures...at the Bank.

Khush Rahein.....

-Raju

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

DAWN
(Internet Edition)
*April 08, 2008 Tuesday Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1429 *

Trauma in a bank strong room
By Dilawar Hussain

KARACHI, April 7: Trapped in a locker room of a bank for nearly 10 minutes, a doctor told the traumatic family later in the day that they had another ten minutes before the oxygen in the room was fully consumed, which could have resulted first in brain death and within a few more minutes in complete demise.

Identification of the bank and its staff is being deliberately concealed, for when the nightmare was over; all personnel including the manager were trembling with fear.

It all began when the man with his wife, a daughter of 15 and son of 5 visited the bank in Karachi, where they maintain their account. The deputy manager was told that they wished to operate their locker. “Sure,” says the officer. He buried himself into a pile of files and books and pulled out a ledger. An entry was duly made and signed by the customer in confirmation of his operation of the locker.

The family enters the strong room accompanied by the official who turns a key in the locker and leaves. The door of the room is, as always left ajar. A curtain at the entrance is pulled along to maintain secrecy. That done, the woman turns her key to the locker, examines the valuables, taking off a particular ring and puts back the rest. The locker is bolted and the family turns. The curtain is pulled aside. To the horror of the four inside, the door of the strong room is closed!

The man first gives a slight knock, then heavy thumping and with no response the desperate family starts to charge at the door with all their might. Still nothing moves from outside. The woman, a hypertensive patient, is already beginning to breathe deeply. They try the cell-phone. No signals. They press every button on the board. One lights the bulb the other switches the fan on and off. The man and the children begin throwing chairs and anything that comes at hand, at the door.

Suddenly a ray of light enters the room as the door is pulled from outside. The entire bank staff is at the door, horror written as large on their faces as that of the traumatic family.

The manager and the staff almost drop to their knees in begging forgiveness. The pardon is granted. It is revealed by an officer present that the door is so heavy that any amount of noise inside cannot simply get through, unless a person is standing very closely by. Luckily for the family, a staff member was passing by and he did hear a slight thud and called in the staff and manager to the door of the strong room.

But there is forest of questions that go a begging. How did the gigantic door of the strong room close by itself. Where was the staff deployed at the door of the locker room -- gone to have a sip of tea? Where was the security guard who should have been on the watch out? Why did the official responsible for operating the locker room, forget that the family was inside and finally why was there no alarm bell or ventilation system inside the room to forestall such episode?

On a latter examination, it was noticed that a small device resembling a switch did decorate one of the walls over which a camera eye was rotating. But that, it was revealed, was installed by the company being paid by the bank to take care of its security. The existence of that bell must have been known only to the bank’s staff, useable for warning in case of a robbery. But was the guard at the security company, far away from the bank, sitting at his desk and monitoring cameras or was he taking a nap? Couldn’t he see the frantic family in the bank’s strong room?

All in all, it was a case of utter lethargy and indifference to work and more to human life, all around. But the sting was in the tail. The manager who later made every effort to comfort the family told the man: “There actually was nothing to worry” and he reasoned: “We do check the locker room, before leaving the bank!” It was 11 o’clock and the bank closes on a Saturday at 12:30.

Fruitless, thought the man, to explain to the ‘innocent’ manager that he and his kids would not have been alive by then to tell the tale.

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Good! An expert information for the original poster.

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Re: Are Bank Lockers in Pakistan safe?

Thank you arjay for such detailed information. Much appreciated.