Bank Holidays 2020 In India

News About Bank Holidays in India

• Bank to remain closed for 13 days in May 2020

  As India grapples against the effect of Coronavirus, various banks and other financial entities will be closed in order to observe social distancing norms. Apart from that various festivals, important dates, and weekends will also keep the banks from operating. The banks in India will be shut for a total of 13 days. Given below are the list of dates on which the banks in India will remain unoperational.

  May 1: International Labour Day (Friday)

  May 3: Sunday

  May 7: Buddh Purnima (Thursday)

  May 9: Second Saturday

  May 10: Sunday

  May 17: Sunday

  May 23: Fourth Saturday

  May 24: Sunday

  May 25: Eid-ul-Fitr (Saturday)

  May 31: Sunday

  Banks in Jammu and Kashmir will observe another two days of holidays apart from the ones mentioned above. The holidays are on May 21 and 22 on the occasion of Shab-E-Qadr and Jamat-ul-Vida.

  The banks in India are operating for only 4 hours between 10:00 a.m. and 02:00 p.m. due to coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

  

  28 April 2020

• Banks in the country to be closed for 15 days out of the 30 days in April

  With the nationwide lockdown for 21 days in effect which will last till 15 April in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, banks have been functional with lesser staff. To prevent the spread, banks have reduced the staff or the working hours of the employees in order to promote social distancing. Public and private banks in the country will be closed for 9 days in the month of April due to various bank holidays. Once the week offs of the banks are added, the total number of days banks will be closed is 15.

  According to the RBI, the bank holidays in the month of April 2020 include festivals such as Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti, Good Friday, Bihu, etc. It has also been speculated that during the bank holidays, ATMs might not be disbursing cash.

  The complete list of bank holidays in April include:

  Annual closing of Banks – 1 April

  Ram Navami – 2 April

  Mahavir Jayanti – 6 April

  Good Friday – 10 April

  Bihu, Bohag Bihu, Baisakhi – 13 April

  Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti – 14 April

  Bohag Bihu – 15 April

  Garia Puja – 20 April

  Bhagvan Shree Parshram Jayanti – 25 April

  These are the list of bank holidays in the month of April. Including this, 6 more days will be a holiday for banks on account of weekends, second and fourth Saturdays.

  

  7 April 2020

• Bank holidays in April 2020

  In April 2020, the major festivals include Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti, Good Friday and Bihu. Banks would be closed on these festivals along with on a few other days in different parts of the country depending on the occasion. Assam will be celebrating Bihu for 3 days for the festival of Bihu.

  In the other states, some banks will also be closed on account of regional holidays which would be state specific. These holidays include Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanthi in various states and state day in Himachal Pradesh along with Garia Puja in the state of Tripura.

  

  31 March 2020

• Banks could be closed for four days next week due to holidays and strike

  Banks may be open for only three days next week due to various holidays and a day-long bank strike. The main reason for the strike is to protest against the bank merger of 10 public sector banks.

  The strike will be on 27 March 2020 and the All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), and the Bank Employees Federation of India will take part in it. Next week, all banks will be open on Monday and Tuesday but will be closed in several cities on Wednesday due to Telugu New Year’s Day and Gudhi Padwa. On 25 March 2020, banks in Nagpur, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru will be closed due to the spring festival. Banks will remain open on 26 March 2020. However, banks will be closed on 27 March 2020 and 28 March 2020 because of the bank strike and the fourth Saturday. Bank unions wanted to sit on a strike on 11 March 2020 but later cancelled it. Banks were closed on 31 January and 1 February as employees demanded a 20% hike in their salary. The merger of 10 public sector banks will come into effect from 1 April 2020. However, bank unions have demanded that the government rollback the plans.

  

  17 March 2020

• Bank strikes in March to protest the merger of banks

  After bank unions called of a strike on March 11, couple of other unions have called for a strike on March 27 to protest against the merger of PSU banks.

  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the Union Cabinet has approved the plan to merge 10 PSU banks into four larger banks. The plan will come into effect from 1 April 2020.

  A joint call has been given by The All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) to observe bandh on 27 March. The Unions have demanded the stopping of the merger of the banks. The other demands the Unions have kept forward are the stopping of the privatisation of IDBI Bank, rolling back banking reforms, increase of interest rates on deposits, and recovery of bad loans.

  C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA, said that the Union has planned a series of protest this month. The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) has announced that they will also protest againts the merger.

  The Finance Minister in her defense said that merger will help enhance customer convenience, better branch service, higher credit flow, and lesser time in loan sanctions. There will be an increase in synergy which will allow more competitiveness amongst the banks.

  As per the plans, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce would be merged with Punjab National Bank, which would make it the second largest public sector bank in India.

  The decision was taken that Syndicate Bank will merge with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will merge with Indian Bank. Similarly, Corporation Bank and Syndicate Bank will consolidate with Union Bank of India.

  

  6 March 2020

• Days that Indian banks will be closed in the month of March

  It is important that individuals know the days that banks in India are closed. Apart from planning their bank work, leisure activities can also be planned accordingly.

  Even though bank holidays vary from state to state, certain days are fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where all banks across India will be closed. Apart from various festivals, all private and public sector banks in India will be closed on 26 January, 15 August, and 2 October on account of Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti, respectively. Depending on the state and what festivals are celebrated, bank holidays will vary. In Odisha, banks will be closed on 5 March 2020 on account of Panchayati Raj Diwas. All banks in Uttar Pradesh will be closed on 9 March 2020 because of Hazrat Ali’s Birthday. Banks in several states will be closed on 10 March 2020 on account of Holi. Banks in Haryana and Punjab will be closed on 23 March 2020 on account of Martyr’s Day. Banks in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka will be closed on 25 March 2020 due to Telugu New Year/Gudi Padwa/Ugadi. On 28 March 2020, banks will remain shut in Jharkhand because of Sarhul.

  

  3 March 2020

• Bank holidays in February and March 2020

  Banks were closed on account of Maha Shivarathri on 21 February, Friday, and on 22 February, Saturday, on account of it being a fourth Saturday (which is always a bank holiday), and Sunday being a holiday too, it was a 3-day bank holiday in February. In March too, banks are expected to be closed for 3 days at a stretch due to a strike that falls on 11, 12, and 13 March, which falls on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. However, prior to this strike, banks will also remain closed on 10 March for Holi (which is a Tuesday) with 14 March also being a holiday on account of being a second Saturday. This means that, not taking in account Sunday, which is a bank holiday anyway, in the second week of March, banks will remain open only on one day of the week, which is on 9 March, Monday. This is the third bank strike in 2020 so far, with the first one between 8 to 9 January and the second one on 31 January and 1 February.

  

  21 February 2020

• 3 days of bank strike in March due to salary hik

  Following a 2-day strike that took place on the last day of January and the first day of February, PSU banks’ employees have asserted that another strike is on the cards. In case of a successful shutdown, a number of banks as well as ATMs may remain closed for 5 days straight in the month of March. The Bank Employees Federation of India as well as the All India Bank Employees’ Association has revealed that there will be a strike for 3 days starting from the 11th of March to the 13th of March following the failure of wage revision talks. The talks were held with the Indian Banks’ Association and there was no positive outcome for bank employees. The strike will take place just before the second Saturday of March, which means that in addition to the 3 days of the strike, the bank will remain closed over the weekend as well, thereby making it a 5-day off for employees. Certain private banks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will continue operations as usual. In case it happens, this will mark the third bank strike of 2020 following the recent 2-day strike and the Bharat Bandh on the 8th of January.

  

  9 February 2020

• Banks to be closed for 8 days in February including on February 1 for strike

  Banks in India will remain closed for 8 days in the month of February. The bank has already completed one of the days on which it was closed on 1 February 2020 due to an All India Bank Strike.

  The banks in India will not function on all the four Saturdays and two Sundays. There is only one weekday on which the bank will not function which will be on 21 February on which Maha Shivratri will be celebrated all over the country.

  Given below are the dates on which the Banks will be closed. 

  1 February 2020 – All India Bank Strike/ First Saturday

  2 February – Sunday

  8 February – Second Saturday

  9 February – Second Sunday

  15 February – Third Saturday

  16 February – Third Sunday

  21 February – Maha Shivratri

  22 February – Fourth Saturday

  23 February – Fourth Sunday

  

  1 February 2020

• Bank unions call for two-day bank strike from 31 January 2020

  Post the failure of wage revision talks with the Indian Banks Association (IBA), the union of bank employees has called for a two-day nationwide bank strike on 31 January and 1 February 2020. The strike will be the second bank strike this month after the Bharat Bandh that was observed on 8 January 2020. The timing of the bank strike is significant as it falls on the same day as Budget Day. On 31 January, the Finance Minister of India will present the budget and because 1 February is the first Saturday of the month, all commercial banks are supposed to be working on the Budget Day. Even stock exchanges have agreed to remain open on the Budget Day. Bipartite talks were held by representatives of 9 constituents of the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) recently in which many wage-related demands were turned down. A 20% hike on payslip components, uniform 5-day work week, merger of special allowance with basic pay, scrapping of New Pension Scheme (NPS), etc., were some of the demands of the bank unions.

  

  17 January 2020

• List of bank holidays for the month of January across major cities in India

  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has declared a holiday on 1 January 2020 across certain north-eastern states and in Chennai on account of New Year 2020.

  Apart from Shillong, Imphal, Gangtok, Aizawl, and Chennai, banks will remain open across the other major cities in India on 1 January 2020. Apart from Sundays, banks will remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. Under the Negotiable Instruments Act, there are other bank holidays as well. In Chandigarh, banks will be closed on 2 January 2020 on account of Guru Govind Singh’s birthday. Banks will remain closed in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat on 14 January 2020 on account of Makar Sankranti. On 15 January 2020, banks will remain closed in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Chennai, and Bengaluru on account of Tusu Puja, Magh Bihu, Pongal, and Uttarayaana Punyakaala Makara Sankranti Festival. Banks will be closed in Chennai from 15 January 2020 to 17 January 2020 on account of several festivals. Banks in Tripura, Kolkata, and the rest of West Bengal will be closed on 23 January 2020 due to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthday. Banks in Kolkata, Agartala, and Bhubaneshwar will be closed on 30 January 2020 on account of Basanta Panchami and Saraswati Puja.

  

  31 December 2019

• Banks to remain closed on 2 Saturdays, all Sundays, and 2 public holidays in December

  As per the information revealed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks will be shut for a total of 9 days in December 2019 due to which ATMs may face a shortage of cash during these days. Hence, it is advised that you plan accordingly to ensure that you do not face any cash crunch. Banks will remain shut on all Sundays and two Saturdays in December. Besides that, there will be two public holidays on 25 and 26 December on account of Christmas and Boxing Day. 25 Christmas will fall on a Wednesday while Boxing Day on a Thursday. The second and fourth Saturdays in December will be non-working days for the banks. The list of all the holidays in December can be found on the official website of RBI.

  

  01 December 2019

• Banks to stay shut on 3, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, and 25 November

  Private and public banks in India generally are closed on public holidays and besides that, banks are also shut on the second and fourth Saturdays which can vary from state to state. However, on national holidays such as Independence Day (15 August), Gandhi Jayanti (2 October), and Republic Day (26 January) banks observe holidays. Banks will remain shut for 7 days in November when 3 November is a Sunday, 9 November is a second Saturday, and 10 November is a Sunday. 12 November will also see banks observing a holiday on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti. Banks will remain closed on 17 and 25 November because it is a Sunday. 24 November will also see banks remain shut as it is the fourth Saturday of the month. In October, banks had 8 holidays which includes Saturdays and Sundays.

  

  01 November 2019

• Indian bank holidays in November and December 2019

  Banks in the metros of Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai will be closed for a total of 14 days in the months of November and December 2019. This is besides the second and fourth Saturdays and Sundays, for which all banks are closed in India. Some bank holidays vary from state to state. In Bengaluru and Shillong alone, 1 November will be a holiday on account of Kannada Rajyotsava/Kut and the Wangala festivals respectively. Some of the holidays are 12 November for Guru Nanak Jayanti, Kartika Purnima, and Rahasa Purnima and 25 December for Christmas. Other public holidays that fall in November are on 3, 9, 10, 12, 17, 23, and 24 November. In December, the public holidays fall on 1, 8, 14, 15, 22, 25, 28, and 29 December.

  

  30 October 2019

• Bank holidays in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and other cities after Diwali

  Banks in Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, and Mumbai will get an additional holiday even though Diwali falls on 27 October 2019. Banks will either be closed on 28 October 2019 or 29 October 2019.

  Diwali is followed by various festivals such as Bhaidooj, Govardhan Puja, Laxmi Puja among others. Various business communities also celebrate Vikram Samvat New Year Day, which comes right after Diwali. All banks in India will be closed on 26 October 2019 as it is the fourth Saturday. All banks in the country are closed on Sundays. Under the Negotiable Instruments Act, banks in several cities such as Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Pune, and Mumbai will be closed on 28 October 2019. The holidays will be due to Govardhan Puja, Laxmi Puja, and Vikram Samvat New Year Day. Kanpur and Lucknow are the only major cities where banks will be closed on 28 October 2019 and 29 October 2019 on account of Chitragupt Puja and Bhaidooj. Banks in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, will be closed on 29 October 2019 due to Bali Padyam. Ranchi, Raipur, Goa, Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Srinagar, Jammu, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, and New Delhi are among the cities where banks will not be closed after Diwali. Banks in Haryana and Maharashtra were closed on 21 October 2019 due to assembly elections. Various banks were also closed on 22 October 2019 because of the strike called by unions to protest the merger of banks.

  

  24 October 2019

• Banks to be closed for four days in Mumbai and Pune

  Banks will be closed in Mumbai, Pune and some of the cities in Maharashtra and Haryana due to the assembly elections scheduled to be held in Maharashtra and Haryana. The branches of banks will be active for only three days this week. Bank strikes and other bank holidays will also contribute to banks remaining closed this week.

  Banks will function in all the states and Union Territories in India except for Maharashtra and Haryana after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced bank holidays in these two states due to assembly elections scheduled.

  Chandigarh which is the capital city of both Punjab and Haryana will have banks operating as normal.

  All India Bank Employees Association (AlBEA) and the Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) have decided to go on a nationwide strike on Tuesday to protest against the merging of banks. If the protest is successful, then it is very much likely that the banking transaction would take a severe hit all over the country. On the next three days of the week till October 25, banks are likely to resume its normal services throughout the country.

  

  21 October 2019

• List of October bank holidays

  In India, the month of October marks the start of the festive season which has holidays such as Diwali, Dussehra, Ram Navmi, Bhai Dooj, and Govardhan Pooja. There will be 11 holidays for government offices and banks on account of festivals and weekends which leaves only 20 working days in the month. The 11 holidays are as follows: 2 October (Gandhi Jayanti), 6-8 (Ram Navmi and Dussehra), 12-13 (second Saturday and Sunday), 20 (Sunday), 26-27 (Diwali), and 28-29 (Govardhan Pooja and Bhai Dooj).

  

  30 September 2019

• 2-day strike deferred by bank unions

  Public sector banks have deferred the planned two-day strike after assurances were provided by the Finance Secretary, Rajiv Kumar, that they would look into their concerns. Four bank unions had planned to go on a two-day strike on September 26 and September 27 after the announcement was made to consolidate 10 banks to four.

  According to the joint statement that was issued on September 23, the strike has been deferred after the Finance Minister was positive about setting up a committee to look into the issue. Therefore, normal banking will not be affected on these two days. The four unions that called for a strike were the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO), Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), and All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC). An announcement was made by the government to bring down the number of public sector banks from 19 to 12. As per the plan, Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank will merge, Indian Bank and Allahabad Bank will merge, while Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India will merge with Punjab National Bank. Earlier, Bank of Baroda merged with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank. Effective April 2017, State Bank of India had merged its associate banks, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, and State Bank of Patiala.

  

  25 September 2019

• September 2019 bank holidays

  Four Saturdays are present in the month of September that fall on 7, 16, 21, and 28. It is important to know the dates that banks are closed in the month of September as it could help in completing any bank-related activities. 

  However, depending on the Union Territory or the state, bank holidays may vary. 2 September 2019 is a bank holiday in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Telangana, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Puducherry on account of Chaturthi. 3 September 2019 is also a bank holiday in Goa and Odisha on account of Ganesh Chaturthi and Nuakhai, respectively. 7 September 2019 is a bank holiday in Punjab because of Baba Sri Chand Ji Jayanti. 8 September 2019 is a bank holiday in Rajasthan because of Ramdev Jayanti and Teja Dashmi. 10 September 2019 is a bank holiday in Kerala because of Onam. 10 September 2019 is also a bank holiday in all states and union territories other than Tripura, Puducherry, Nagaland, Kerala, Daman and Diu, Punjab, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand on account of Muharram. Banks in Kerala will be closed on September 11, 13, and 21 on account of Thiruvonam, Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti, and Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi, respectively. Banks in Karnataka, Odisha, Tripura, and West Bengal will be closed on 28 September 2019 on account of Mahalaya. Banks will also remain shut on the second and fourth Saturday of every month. 

  

  2 September 2019

• List of bank holidays till the September-end

  Individuals can save a lot of time and money if they know the list of bank holidays as they can plan their schedule accordingly. In India, banks are closed for up to 6 days for the months of August and September. However, bank holidays could vary depending on the State.

  For the month of August, banks will remain closed on August 15 and August 24 on account of Independence Day/Rakshabandhan and Janmashtami, respectively. For the month of September, banks will remain closed on September 2, September 10, and September 11, on account on Vinayak Chaturthi, Muharram, and Onam, respectively. In the case of states, banks will remain closed in Ahmedabad, Nagpur, and Mumbai on August 17 on account of Parsi New Year. In Assam, banks will be shut on August 20 because of Sri Sri Madhav Dev. Banks in Haryana and Punjab will remain closed on August 31 as Pahila Prakash Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is celebrated on that day.

  

  14 August 2019

• Here’s the list of Bank Holidays in August 2019

  If you have to take care of some important bank work, you need to know the days on which banks will remain open.

  Here is a list of bank holidays in August 2019:

  In the month of August, banks have three public holidays for Independence Day, Eid-ul-Adha, and Janmashtami.

  • 3 August 2019: Saturday – banks will remain closed in Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana due to Hariyali Teej in the month of Sawan.
  • 4 August 2019: Sunday
  • 12 August 2019: Monday - Eid ul-Adha. Banks will remain closed across all states.
  • 15 August 2019: Thursday - Independence Day. Banks will remain closed across all states.
  • 17 August 2019: Saturday – Parsi New Year – Banks will remain closed in Mumbai on the occasion of Navroz.
  • 18 August 2019: Sunday
  • 24 August 2019: Janmashthami – It will be a bank holiday across India on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami.
  • 25 August 2019: Sunday

  

  2 August 2019

• RBI Declares 1st April as Bank Holiday

  In the view of annual closing of accounts, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has declared a holiday for all commercial and co-operative banks in India on Monday, 1st of April.

  To facilitate a few services such as government receipt and payment transactions, some of the bank branch offices remained open on 31st March, Sunday.

  The same has been notified by the RBI on 26th March that all Pay and Account Offices will remain open on March 31, 2019 to facilitate the above-mentioned transactions.

  The RBI has also issued another notification on 28th March according to which special clearing will be conducted at all clearing houses across India on 30th and 31st of March.

  The bank working hours have also been set by the RBI – Up to 8.00 p.m. on 30th March and up to 6.00 p.m. on 31st March.

  1st April 2019 marks the beginning of the next financial year, FY 2019-20.

  

  31 March 2019

• Banks remain closed for three days in Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai and other cities

  State Bank of India (SBI), Housing Development Financial Corporation (HDFC), ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and other scheduled commercial banks will remain shut on 21 November 2018 on account of Eid-e-Milad-ul-Nabi that commemorates the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. They also remain closed on 23 November on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti and 24 November, which is the fourth Saturday of the month.

  As per a TOI report, the banks will remain closed for three days in the national capital, Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ranchi, Srinagar, Lucknow, Raipur and Dehradun and Jammu. TOI reported that in the capital city of Karnataka, Bangalore; the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal; the capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai; and the capital city of Gujarat, Ahmedabad; the banks shall remain closed on the 21st and 24th November 2018.

  The festival holiday of Eid-e-Milad-ul-Nabi fell on the 20th November 2018 in Kerala. TOI report further said that the banks will remain off on 24 November on account of the fourth Saturday of the month in various cities, including Patna, Agartala, Gangtok, Goa, Bhubaneswar, Aizawl and Imphal.

  

  21 November 2018