Banking Sector and regulatory framework: addressing India’s growing demand for secure lockers

By Puja Sharma

Aurm, a provider of safe and accessible lockers, estimated that the gap in demand and supply is about 54 million lockers in top Indian cities, highlighting the need for secure and accessible lockers in the country.

India has a significant gap in the availability of bank lockers and faces a dire need for accessible and convenient locker services, according to a report by Aurm, a startup that is revolutionising locker services in the country.

Aurm estimated that by 2030, there will be 60 million affluent Indians needing safe deposit storage lockers in the top Indian cities. However, at present there are only 6 million bank lockers available across the country. Thus, the gap between the demand for lockers and the availability of lockers will be around 54 million, according to the report that was commissioned after speaking to several banking officials, cybersecurity experts and data gathered from various reports published by the Reserve Bank of India.

As per the Aurm report, the demand-supply gap is set to widen in high density urban clusters, where banks face a dearth of space and high rents.

As a country obsessed with gold, India has emerged as the world’s largest consumer of gold jewellery. Indian households are estimated to hold around 22,000-25,000 tonnes of the yellow metal. In a stark contrast, there are only 6.3 million public and private lockers in the country.

“The gap between demand and supply of lockers is colossal. This gap is expected to grow further as the purchasing power of Indians grows, as has been the trend. There is an urgent need for accessible, secure and convenient lockers in the country,” said Ganesh Balakrishnan, co-founder, Aurm.

Indian households allocate 10-15% of their assets to it either in the form of jewellery or as an investment. However, few have access to bank lockers, leaving them susceptible to theft, burglaries and fraud.

While access to bank lockers was a prime concern in India, security breaches in lockers were another challenge that Indians had to face. Reports indicate that between April 2014 and March 2017, a staggering Rs 180 crore was lost in a total of 2,632 incidents of robbery, theft, and burglary across 51 banks.

To counter these challenges, Aurm proposes a multi-stakeholder approach to overhauling the system. One key recommendation is for governing bodies of banks such as the Reserve Bank of India to set up a regulatory framework ensuring transparency and clearly defining guidelines for liability. Banks, on the other hand, must make technological upgrades to their lockers to enhance security and customer experience.

Incidentally, the demand and supply gap gives private players a unique opportunity to capture the market with state-of-the-art lockers. By providing a fully automated, secure and user-friendly locker system that is available round the clock, Aurm is addressing the growing gap in demand and supply for lockers.

Aurm partners with banks and real estate developers to build and manage safe deposit locker facilities in gated societies, corporate clusters and bank branches. These lockers are fully insured to benefit the customers.