The Finance Ministry's September 23, 2026 notice provided for public-sector and regional rural banks to work on Sunday, September 27. It linked the arrangement to the United Forum of Bank Unions' proposed September 28-30 strike.
September 26 and 27 were the preceding weekend holidays identified in the notice. A Sunday opening therefore inserted one service day between Saturday and the proposed industrial action, rather than leaving five successive dates without normal access.
RBI permission covered branches, offices, ATM-link branches and currency chests. The scope joined customer-facing banking with cash-support infrastructure, an important distinction for customers whose needs could not be met solely through a digital payment.
The government and bank managements also asked unions to defer the strike. The Sunday arrangement and those negotiations addressed different problems: access before the proposed stoppage and whether the stoppage would proceed.
