Banks shut for 4 straight days this week, finish urgent work today

If you have urgent bank work to finish at the start of the week, this is useful to know. According to the Reserve Bank of India's official calendar, bank branches in different states and cities across the country will remain closed for four days between September 21 and September 27.

During this period, branches of all public and private sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB), will not function on the affected days. This could cause difficulty for customers who need to visit a branch in person to deposit cheques or carry out cash transactions. According to the RBI's holiday list, bank branches will be closed in various cities because of local and regional festivals.

On September 21, banks will be closed in Odisha and Kerala for Srimanta Sankardev's birth anniversary and Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi Day. On September 22, banks will be closed in Jharkhand for Karma Puja. On September 23, bank branches in Jammu and Srinagar will be closed for the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh. And on September 26, being the fourth Saturday of the month, all public and private sector banks across the country will observe their regular public holiday.

However, even though bank branches will be closed, this will not have any major effect on customers' day-to-day financial transactions. Online banking services will remain fully operational even on the holidays. People can transfer money or make online payments at any time through UPI, internet banking and mobile banking apps.

Besides this, ATM services for cash withdrawal will continue to function as usual. According to the RBI, facilities such as RTGS and NEFT are available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, so there will be no difficulty in sending money digitally.

Customers should keep in mind that the RBI's holiday list varies by state and city. This means that if there is a holiday in one state, it does not necessarily mean banks in your city will also be closed. So for work that must be done in person at a branch, such as submitting documents, meeting bank officials or getting a new passbook made, it is worth checking your local city's banking calendar in advance to save time and avoid inconvenience.