By Nidhi Jacob
Claims about the closure of nationalised banks on all Saturdays of every month have circulated widely on social media recently. These misleading claims emerged after Pune Mirror highlighted it in their news headline without providing the complete context.
The title states, "Now Banks will follow 5 days working, Every Saturday and Sunday banks will be closed." However. there has been no official statement from the Ministry of Finance regarding the implementation of the five-day workweek yet.
Several X (formerly Twitter) users posted these false claims following the Pune Mirror's news report. BOOM also received requests to verify this claim.
Fact-check
In a written reply on December 5, 2023, Dr. Bhagwat Karad, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, said that the Union government had received a proposal from the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) suggesting the declaration of all Saturdays as banking holidays.
According to the proposal, "IBA has already recommended to the Government for declaration of all Saturdays as holidays under Negotiable Instruments Act for Banking industry in line with earlier negotiations with unions/associations and the same will be pursued. The unions/associations urged for implementation of the same before signing of the final bipartite agreement/ joint note."
The Minister's response read, "Yes, IBA has submitted a proposal to declare all Saturdays as banking holiday. In regard to the Saturdays being public holiday, subsequent to 10th Bipartite settlement/ 7th Joint note signed between IBA and Workmen Unions/Officer Associations, Government, in exercise of powers conferred by section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, vide notification dated 20.8.2015, had declared the second and the fourth Saturdays of every month as public holiday for banks in India."
However, since the response did not indicate any plans for banks to be closed on all Saturdays in the future, this claim is misleading. While BOOM could not confirm the possibility of banks transitioning to a five-day workweek in the future, we found that the Ministry of Finance has not released an official statement regarding its implementation.
The decision of bank holidays is made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Since September 1, 2015, the Reserve Bank of India has been observing public holidays for scheduled and non-scheduled banks, including public, private, foreign, cooperative, regional rural, and local area banks, on the second and fourth Saturdays. On Saturdays other than the second and fourth Saturdays, the RBI has been observing full working days.
The RBI has categorised holidays into three groups: holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, The Negotiable Instruments Act and Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) holidays, and Banks’ Closing of Accounts. RBI's comprehensive list of holidays for all States and Union Territories in 2023, can be accessed here.
