All public-sector banks to stay open this Sunday:Centre’s decision comes ahead of bank unions’ strike from 28-30 Sept

All public-sector banks and regional rural banks will remain open on Sunday, 27 September 2026, due to the nationwide bank employee unions’ strike from 28-30 September, the government announced on Wednesday. However, private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, etc., will remain closed. As 26 September is a fourth Saturday, all lenders will also remain closed that day. Hence, only the state-owned banks will open for a day between 26 and 30 Sept. United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) has called for this strike. RBI permits banks to remain open Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted approval for all bank branches, offices and the ATM-linked branches to remain operational on Sunday. The government said that “the welfare and convenience of bank customers remain its foremost priority”. The Government and bank managements have also appealed to employee unions to defer the proposed strike, while taking measures to ensure that essential banking services remain uninterrupted. What bank unions demand? The main demands of the bank unions are to approve a 5-day work week and to withdraw the new Performance-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme implemented by the government. Approval for 5-day banking stuck for 2 years UFBU had said that on March 8, 2024, the 12th Bipartite Settlement and 9th Joint Note were signed with the Indian Banks Association, i.e., IBA. There was consensus on implementing 5-Day Banking. Under this, employees would work 40 minutes extra daily from Monday to Friday. IBA had approved this proposal and sent it to the central government, but even after more than two years have passed, the Finance Ministry has not given its approval. What is the 5-Day Banking proposal? Currently, banks remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month. Once the new proposal is implemented, there will be a holiday every Saturday and Sunday. In exchange, working hours from Monday to Friday will increase by 40 minutes per day. Controversy over new PLI Scheme: Unions had opposed the new PLI guidelines issued by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance. The unions alleged that this scheme is discriminatory: Officers in Scale IV and above: Will receive PLI equivalent to up to 365 days of basic pay based on individual performance. Workmen and employees in Scale I to III: They will receive a maximum of only 15 days of basic pay + DA. UFBU argues that PLI should be entirely based on the bank’s overall performance and all employees up to Scale VII should receive incentives for an equal number of days. This new rule violates the agreement reached between IBA and the unions.