Public-Sector and Regional Rural Banks Open Sunday, September 27, Ahead of Three-Day Nationwide Strike Starting September 28

Public sector banks and regional rural banks remained operational on Sunday, September 27, 2026, ahead of a proposed three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to September 30, 2026. The decision to open PSBs and RRBs on Sunday was taken after a meeting held on September 21 involving officials from the Finance Ministry, public sector banks, regional rural banks, the Indian Banks' Association, and NABARD. The Reserve Bank of India granted approval for bank branches, offices, ATM-linked branches, and currency chests to remain operational on September 27, allowing customers to carry out regular branch-related work at participating banks subject to the availability of staff. Digital banking services such as net banking, IMPS, NEFT, RTGS, and mobile banking were also expected to remain available. The Sunday opening direction applies to public sector banks and regional rural banks but does not necessarily extend to private sector banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, which are not obligated to follow the same arrangement under the stated guidelines. The move comes as the United Forum of Bank Unions and other bank union groups have called for a three-day strike starting September 28, coinciding with month-end salary payments, which could affect millions of customers in and outside India, including in the UAE. Workers are demanding a five-day work week and protesting against what they describe as inadequate staffing and rising workloads. The strike could delay manual remittance processing for UAE residents who use Indian public-sector banks, though digital channels are expected to remain operational. The timing of the strike, overlapping with month-end transactions and the start of the new financial quarter in some sectors, raises concerns about disruption to banking operations and remittance flows.