Rita hired a locker for keeping her ornaments and other valuable assets in a private bank and paid the rent for a year. On one day she visited the bank and expressed her desire to open her locker. Later on, while opening

This present case is similar to the case of Punjab National Bank v. K.B. Shetty . In this case, the National Commission held the bank guilty of negligence and deficiency of service performed by the bank and therefore, the bank was held liable to make good the loss. According to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, 'deficiency' means any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner of performance which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force or has been undertaken to be performed by a person in pursuance of a contract or otherwise in relation to any service. Even if there is no sign of breaking the locker, the bank, as the custodian of the locker and having control over its security, has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the contents. The disappearance of valuables from a locker indicates a deficiency in the bank's service. In view of the above, Rita will succeed in her complaint with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.