Bank strike from September 28 to 30, SBI and others advise customers

If you have any urgent banking work, this news concerns you. Employees of the country's major banks are set to go on a three-day strike. The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has announced a three-day nationwide strike from September 28 to 30, which is expected to disrupt operations at bank branches. In view of this, SBI and other major public sector banks have advised customers to complete their essential work beforehand.

The State Bank of India, the country's largest public sector bank, issued this notice for customers in a statement on Tuesday. The bank said internet banking, the mobile application and UPI facility will continue to function as usual.

SBI clarified, "Some bank employee organisations have announced a three-day strike from September 28 to 30, so please complete your essential transactions in advance. All other ATMs and customer service centres, internet and mobile banking, UPI and other digital channels will continue to function as usual, so please make use of them."

Indian Bank also alerted customers, saying, "The proposed bank strike may affect banking services. Please use mobile banking, ATMs and digital channels."

The main advice from banks is that customers should complete their essential transactions before the strike begins. Internet banking, the mobile application and UPI services will remain functional, and all financial transactions can also be carried out as before through SBI's YONO app.

The strike has been called by the UFBU. Through this three-day nationwide strike, bank unions are demanding a five-day working week and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Banks currently remain closed on Sundays as well as the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Bank employees want a five-day working week, similar to the RBI and LIC. This was agreed upon in the wage settlement of March 2024, but the matter remains unresolved.

Employees are also opposing implementation of the government's revised PLI scheme, because of the wide gap in incentives between senior officers and junior staff at banks. Following employees' protests, the union finance ministry has for now put implementation of this revised scheme on hold as of September 2026.

To avert the five-day strike, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted all public sector banks and regional rural banks to resume normal banking operations from Sunday. Following this, all bank branches, offices, ATM-linked branches and currency chests will continue to function fully.

This is the second strike this month. Bank organisations had earlier held a one-day strike on September 11. The striking bank organisations have now warned that if their demands are not met, they will call an indefinite nationwide strike from October 26.