Consumers planning to visit their bank branches on January 22 may take note. Public sector lenders will open after 2.30 p.m. and operate till their regular closing hours, even in States that have declared January 22 a public holiday.
Private banks, on the other hand, will operate like any other day in all States, except Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, that have declared a public holiday in view of the Ram temple consecration ceremony.
The Reserve Bank of India, headquartered in Mumbai, has announced a holiday for staffers on Monday, while stock markets as well as money markets will be closed.
However, public sector or PSU banks like Central Bank of India have instructed staff to report to work after 2.30 p.m. even in Maharashtra. They have cited the Finance Ministry directive that asked PSU banks, financial institutions, regional rural banks and insurers to close operations till 2.30 p.m. on Monday to enable employees to participate in the Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha celebrations.
“Some States have given full holiday by invoking the Negotiable Instruments Act, like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. So, we are shut in those States, while Uttarakhand is a unique case. Here, most banks, including ours, will work from 2.30 p.m. onwards,” said an official at a top private bank.
“In other States, we are as yet mostly open, unless some other guidance comes in,” he added. Some large private banks are, however, opting not to open branches in Uttarakhand on January 22.
“If we open the branch at 2.30 p.m., there’s a couple of hours of banking hours left at best. Neither do we expect many customers to come, nor do we see a point in getting employees to commute to the office to work for such a short time,” said a senior official from a large private lender.
A PSU bank employee stationed at the Churchgate branch in south Mumbai echoed the sentiment, stating that her commute to and from work on Monday will be longer than the two hours she is expected to work after 2.30 p.m.
With Jammu and Kashmir administration declaring a half-day holiday as well, private banks were still to firm up whether they would operate during the latter half of the day in the erstwhile State, or just shut branches for the whole day like some plan to do in Uttarakhand.
