5 working days in banks: Five days banking is getting closer to becoming a reality soon after nearly a year of repeated petitions and representations from different bank employee unions. According to sources, the Indian Banking Association (IBA), a representative body of managements of Indian banks, reportedly accepted the industry demand put forth by banks employee unions to declare all Saturdays a bank holiday at a meeting held on July 28. The petition has been forwarded by the IBA to the ministry of finance for approval.
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If approved, it would mean that bank branches will work only for five days in a week, that is, Monday to Friday. The daily work hours at branches, though, could be extended by 45 minutes.
IBA didn’t respond to an email asking for confirmation until the time of publication. Top bank executives from both the private and public sectors, however, confirm that the agenda to declare Saturday a holiday was approved at the IBA’s most recent meeting. Senior bank executives who are aware of the development stated that “the matter has now been escalated to the finance ministry for final sign off.”