The Finance Ministry appealed on September 21, 2026 for public-sector and regional rural bank employees to maintain services ahead of a proposed September 28-30 strike. It said the Performance Linked Incentive scheme had been kept in abeyance following discussions, while the demand for a five-day banking week remained unresolved. The ministry's appeal was reported by Akashvani the next day.
The ministry said a one-day strike had already taken place on September 11 and an indefinite stoppage had also been proposed from October 26. It highlighted the September 30 half-yearly closing, when banks undertake reconciliation, provisioning and treasury operations. These were the specific banking functions cited in its warning about disruption, alongside the effect on customers and government transactions.
On September 23, the Controller General of Accounts issued a separate contingency instruction allowing September salaries, wages and pensions for central government employees and pensioners to be paid on September 25. The order included Defence, Posts and Telecommunications personnel and industrial employees. Payments were to be treated as advances, with any necessary adjustment made in October after the month's entitlement was determined.
The Finance Ministry also announced on September 23 that public-sector banks and regional rural banks would open normally on Sunday, September 27. It said RBI approval covered branches, offices, ATM-link branches and currency chests. The exceptional opening was intended to prevent a prolonged interruption spanning the preceding weekend and the proposed three strike days.
In a later circular dated September 28 and posted on October 7, the All India Bank Employees' Association reported that UFBU had deferred the proposed strike programmes. Its account described a proposed high-level IBA-UFBU committee on the remaining Saturday holidays, discussions on incentives for officers in Scale IV and above, and a bilateral agenda for residual settlement issues. The circular explicitly said five-day banking had not yet been implemented; deferment followed commitments to further work on those demands.
