Why banks are open today, Sunday — What customers should know

Public sector banks and regional rural banks will remain open and operate normally today as the government seeks to ensure uninterrupted services ahead of a proposed three-day nationwide strike from Wednesday.

The Ministry of Finance said the decision was taken in view of the strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which comes immediately after the weekend holidays.

Why are banks open on Sunday?

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the opening of all bank branches, offices, ATM-linked branches and currency chests on September 27. These facilities will remain fully operational, the ministry said.

The move is aimed at giving customers an additional day of services before the proposed strike begins, preventing disruptions for several days in a row.

“The welfare and convenience of bank customers remains the Government's foremost priority,” it said, while appealing to bank unions to defer the proposed strike.

The government and bank managements had on Tuesday also appealed to the unions to resolve their remaining demands through dialogue, while taking steps to ensure essential banking services continue without interruption.

Strike coincides with month-end closing

The government earlier pointed out that the proposed strike coincides with the half-yearly closing of banks on September 30.

A disruption at that time could affect several operations, including reconciliation, provisioning, treasury and market-related activities.

By keeping banks open on Sunday, authorities are effectively providing customers with an extra day of service, while also seeking to limit the impact of the proposed shutdown on banking operations.

Why are bank employees planning a strike?

The proposed September 28-30 strike follows a one-day strike held on September 11. Bank unions have primarily been seeking the implementation of a five-day banking week and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

The government said it has already decided to keep the PLI scheme in abeyance following discussions with the unions. However, the demand for a five-day workweek is still under examination.