Also Read | The 2026 Personal Finance Reset: Adapting to India’s New Labour Codes

1. The 3-Day Impact Timeline

Customers are advised to plan their transactions early, as branch-based services will be unavailable during this period.

Also Read | The 2026 Personal Finance Reset: Adapting to India’s New Labour Codes

2. Why Are Bank Employees Striking?

The primary demand is the immediate implementation of a 5-day work week.

• The Agreement: In March 2024, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and unions signed a wage revision agreement that included declaring all Saturdays as holidays.

• The Delay: Unions allege the Central Government has been “sitting tight” on the recommendation for nearly two years without issuing the final notification.

• The Trade-off: Employees have offered to work an extra 40 minutes daily (Monday to Friday) to ensure no loss of total working hours or productivity.

• Precedent: Unions argue that the RBI, LIC, GIC, and stock exchanges already operate on a 5-day week, making the current banking schedule discriminatory.

Also Read | The 2026 Personal Finance Reset: Adapting to India’s New Labour Codes

3. Which Services Will Be Affected?

While physical branches will be closed or heavily disrupted, digital infrastructure is expected to remain mostly functional.

• ❌ Affected Services: Cheque clearing, cash deposits/withdrawals at counters, Demand Draft (DD) issuance, and loan processing.

• ✅ Functional Services: UPI (GPay, PhonePe, etc.), Mobile Banking, Net Banking, and IMPS/NEFT/RTGS transfers.

• ⚠️ Partial Impact: ATMs may run out of cash by the third day (Jan 27) as cash-loading agencies often face logistical hurdles during strikes.

4. Participation of Private Banks

The strike will see near-total participation in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Old-Generation Private Banks (like Federal Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, etc.). New-generation private lenders (HDFC, ICICI, Axis) typically remain operational, though their cheque-clearing processes may be delayed due to the disruption of the central clearing house….

Also Read | The 2026 Personal Finance Reset: Adapting to India’s New Labour Codes

The post Bank Alert: 3-Day Shutdown Expected in Late January 2026 first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.

These are the demands of the unions

• Adequate recruitment in all cadres
• Regularize all temporary employees
• Implementation of 5-day working week in the banking industry
• Protect job security
• Roll back DFS instruction on performance review
• Withdraw DFS directive on PLI
• Protect the bankers, ensure safety
• No more assault and abuse! Safe workplace for bank officers and employees now
• Filling up of posts of employee/officer directors in public sector banks
• Resolution of pending issues with Indian Banks Association
• Raise the maximum limit of gratuity to Rs 25 lakh and make it tax-free – parity with government employees now
• Stop imposing unfair taxes on employee welfare. No income tax levy on concessional benefits-let management bear the cost
• Protect national interests, retain 51% government equity in IDBI Bank

They oppose these

United Forum of Bank Unions says that we oppose the micro-management of PSBs by DFS on policy matters, which affects the service conditions of employees and officers and weakens bilateralism. Also, we oppose outsourcing of permanent jobs in banks, unfair labor practices in the banking industry. Lakhs of bank employees across the country will join this strike. This may affect the functioning of banks. If you have important work, then finish it beforehand.

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The post Bank employees will go on strike on 24-25 March, unions called for these demands first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.