Government Orders Public Sector, Rural Banks to Open on Sunday Ahead of 3-Day Strike

The decision comes after the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) called a three-day nationwide strike from September 28 to 30, 2026. In view of the proposed strike, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have decided that all public sector banks and regional rural banks will function normally on Sunday, September 27, 2026.

The decision was taken after a conciliation meeting held on Tuesday before the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner failed to produce any concrete outcome. Following the meeting, the United Forum of Bank Unions decided to proceed with the strike, prompting the government to take the emergency step of keeping banks open on Sunday.

In a statement issued on September 23, the Ministry of Finance said the proposed UFBU strike is scheduled after the weekend holidays of September 26 and 27. If banks remained closed on Sunday as well, customers could face prolonged disruption to banking services.

September 26 is the fourth Saturday, when banks will remain closed, while September 27 is normally a Sunday holiday. With the three-day strike beginning on September 28, banking operations would otherwise remain disrupted for a total of five consecutive days.

The Ministry said, "This is to ensure that essential banking needs of the general public are not impacted for a prolonged period, all Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks will function normally on Sunday, September 27, 2026."

The decision is aimed at ensuring that customers can access essential banking services before the proposed strike begins on Monday. The Ministry also said that the government and bank management have appealed to the unions to call off the strike.

The Reserve Bank of India has also approved the Finance Ministry's decision to keep banks open on Sunday. The RBI's approval covers not only regular bank branches but also offices, ATM-linked branches and currency chests, which will operate as they do on normal working days.

The Ministry said, "The welfare and convenience of bank customers is the highest priority of the Government."

The proposed strike is scheduled for three days, from September 28 to September 30. With Sunday, September 27, being declared a working day for public sector banks and regional rural banks, customers will have an opportunity to complete branch-based banking transactions before the three-day nationwide strike begins.