Public sector banks and regional rural banks will function normally on Sunday, September 27, as the government seeks to maintain uninterrupted banking services ahead of the proposed three-day nationwide strike scheduled from September 28 to 30.
The decision follows the strike call by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which comes immediately after the weekend holidays on September 26 and 27. The Ministry of Finance said the additional working day would help prevent disruption to customers over the extended period.
The Reserve Bank of India has permitted all bank branches, offices, ATM-linked branches and currency chests to remain operational on September 27.
The government has said customer welfare and convenience remain its foremost priority and has again urged bank unions to defer the proposed strike. The government and bank managements also appealed to the unions on Tuesday to settle their outstanding demands through dialogue.
The planned industrial action follows a one-day bank strike held on September 11. The unions are mainly seeking the introduction of a five-day banking week and the withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
The government has stated that it decided to keep the PLI scheme in abeyance after discussions with the unions. The demand for a five-day workweek, however, is still under consideration.
Officials had earlier pointed out that the proposed strike would overlap with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30. This could affect reconciliation, provisioning, treasury activities and market operations.
Keeping banks open on September 27 will provide customers with an additional working day before the strike starts. The government said it would continue efforts to keep essential banking services available while the remaining issues involving bank employees are addressed through discussions.
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