Bank strike and Gandhi Jayanti holiday to shut branches four days next week

Anyone planning to visit a bank branch next week should check the schedule in advance. Between September 28 and October 4, banking services across the country will be hit by both a strike and a national holiday.

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called a nationwide strike for three days, September 28 to 30, at the start of the week. Talks over the unions' demands failed to produce a resolution, so the strike call was maintained. The UFBU claims to represent nearly 90 percent of banking employees.

The main reason for the strike is the demand for a five-day banking work week. Alongside this, the dispute over the revised Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the pension issue and other employee-related demands are also part of the agitation. Some employee unions have also demanded that the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) be implemented and that vacant posts be filled.

The strike is likely to affect in-branch operations at public sector banks the most. Public sector banks such as SBI, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Indian Bank have appealed to employees to keep services running smoothly. Operations at private banks are expected to be relatively less affected. Customers are advised to watch for official notices from their respective banks.

After the three-day strike, banks will also be closed on October 2 for the national holiday marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. On this day, in-person customer service will be shut at all public, private, rural and cooperative banks. Those needing to visit a bank branch during the full week of September 28 to October 4 should plan their transactions in advance.

With branches closed, cash deposits, cheque-related processes, opening new accounts, issuing demand drafts, updating passbooks and locker work could be held up. Customers needing to submit documents or complete other administrative tasks may have to wait until branches reopen. Services such as cheque clearance and settlement may also be affected during the strike period.

The relief is that even with branches closed, digital services such as UPI, mobile banking and internet banking will continue to function. Customers will be able to transfer money, pay bills and carry out other digital transactions using Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm or their bank's mobile app. ATM services are also expected to remain operational. However, if cash demand rises during the strike, some ATMs could run out of cash. Customers have been advised to withdraw cash in advance if needed and to carry out as many transactions as possible digitally.