Bank strike alert: Banks may remain closed on September 11 and 28-30; here's why

Bank customers across the country could face significant disruption in September as the United Forum of Bank Unions UFBU representing more than 90 per cent of the banking workforce has called for two rounds of nationwide strikes over demands including a fiveday banking week and changes to the PerformanceLinked Incentive PLI schemeCOMMITMENT MADE THEN WHERE IS THE IMPLEMENTATION Of 5Day BankingUnilateral PLI Put it on hold Withdraw the discriminatory frameworkPLI Dialogue not diktat Rework it through meaningful bilateral discussionsNo more indefinite delay5DayWeekandFairPLIDFS_India pictwittercomjRsgPYcMw5mdash United Forum of Bank Unions UFBUIndia August 30 2026The UFBU has announced a oneday strike on September 11 followed by a threeday nationwide strike from September 28 to 30 If its demands remain unresolved the umbrella body of seven bank employee and officer unions has also warned of an indefinite strike from October 26The planned stoppages come at a time when customers will already have fewer working days because of regular weekly holidays and festival holidays observed by banks The combination could make September particularly difficult for customers who need branchbased banking servicesHow the strikes could affect bank customersIf the strikes go ahead bank branches could remain closed affecting services that require customers to visit a branch or depend on staff processing transactionsWhile digital banking services such as internet banking mobile banking Unified Payments Interface UPI and Automated Teller Machines ATMs are expected to continue operating customers could face delays with services that require physical branch intervention These may include cash transactions at branches demand drafts certain accountrelated requests loanrelated processing and other overthecounter servicesThe September 2830 strike could be particularly inconvenient because it falls at the end of the month when businesses and individuals typically have several timesensitive banking requirements Salaryrelated banking work payments cheque processing cash requirements and other corporate and retail banking activities could be affected if they require branchlevel processingWhy are bank unions going on strikeThe UFBUs latest strike call centres on two major demands implementation of a fiveday banking week and changes to the revised PerformanceLinked Incentive PLI frameworkFiveday banking week Bank unions have been seeking a fiveday working week for several years An inprinciple agreement was reached as part of the wage settlement in March 2024 under which employees would work an additional 40 minutes each day from Monday to Friday in return for all Saturdays being declared holidaysHowever the proposal is still awaiting government notification Unions have pointed out that several financial and government institutions including the Reserve Bank of India Life Insurance Corporation of India General Insurance Corporation and NABARD already follow a fiveday working structurePerformanceLinked Incentive The second major issue is the revised PLI scheme introduced through a Department of Financial Services directive in August 2026Bank unions have objected to what they describe as a forcedranking system According to the UFBU the revised framework provides incentives of up to 365 days worth of incentive wages for officers in Scales IV to VII while a large section of employees could receive little or no incentive under the systemThe UFBU has termed the arrangement ldquoforced ranking and forced injusticerdquo and is demanding a uniform teambased PLI model covering all employeesBank holidays and strikes could leave customers with fewer banking days in SeptemberThe impact of the proposed bank strikes could be more pronounced in September as they come alongside the months regular Sundays second and fourth Saturday closures and statespecific bank holidays For customers who need to visit a physical branch the combination could mean fewer working days and longer gaps between opportunities to complete branchbased transactionsThe Reserve Bank of Indias RBI holiday calendar lists bank holidays for different states and cities in September In addition to Sundays all scheduled and nonscheduled banks remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays which fall on September 12 and September 26 this yearThe UFBU has called a oneday nationwide strike on September 11 followed by a threeday strike from September 28 to 30 This means the first strike falls immediately before the secondSaturday closure while the threeday strike comes immediately after the fourth Saturday and SundayFor customers the latter stretch could be particularly significant If the September 2830 strike goes ahead physical bank branches could be affected for three consecutive days after being closed on September 26 and 27 for the fourth Saturday and Sunday This could leave customers with a prolonged period of limited access to branch services at the end of SeptemberHowever bank holidays are not uniform across the country Apart from Sundays and the second and fourth Saturdays additional holidays apply only to specific states or cities depending on the occasion Customers should therefore check the RBI holiday calendar and their banks schedule before planning a branch visitStatewise list of bank holidays in SeptemberSeptember 4 Banks will remain closed for Janmashtami Vaishnava Shravan Vad8Krishna Jayanthi in several statesThe holiday does not apply to Maharashtra Banks will be closed in Andhra Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh Haryana Gujarat Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Kerala Madhya Pradesh Meghalaya Mizoram Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand and West BengalSeptember 6 Banks will remain closed on SundaySeptember 11 Banks will remain closed in Jaipur due to elections in the jurisdiction of the Jaipur Municipal CorporationSeparately the UFBU has called a nationwide bank strike on this dateSeptember 12 Banks will remain closed as it is the second Saturday In Guwahati Tirubhav Tithi of Srimanta Sankardeva will also be observedSeptember 13 Banks will remain closed on SundaySeptember 14 Banks will remain closed in Andhra Pradesh Goa Karnataka Maharashtra Odisha Tamil Nadu and Telangana for Ganesh ChaturthiGanesh PujaVarasiddhi Vinayaka VrataVinayakar ChathurthiHartalikaSeptember 15 Banks will remain closed in Goa Gujarat and Odisha for Samvatsari Chaturthi PakshaNuakhaiGanesh Chaturthi second daySeptember 20 Banks will remain closed on SundaySeptember 21 Banks in Assam and Kerala will remain closed for the Janmotsav of Srimanta Sankardeva and Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi respectivelySeptember 22 Banks in Jharkhand will remain closed for Karma PujaSeptember 23 Banks in Jammu and Kashmir will remain closed for the birthday of Maharaja Hari Singh JiSeptember 25 Banks in Sikkim will remain closed for IndrajatraSeptember 26 Banks will remain closed as it is the fourth SaturdaySeptember 27 Banks will remain closed on SundaySeptember 2830 The UFBU has called a threeday nationwide bank strike over its demands including the implementation of a fiveday banking week and changes to the PLI scheme If the strike goes ahead physical branch operations could be disrupted during these three days