On the request of the Union Government, the RBI issued a directive on March 20, instructing agency banks to stay open on March 30 and March 31, which is a weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
Last Saturday being the fourth one of the month of March, was a non-working day for banks.
RBI Notification |
In the notification issued on its website, the central bank said, "The Government of India has made a request to keep all branches of the banks dealing with Government receipts and payments open for transactions on March 31, 2024 (Sunday) so as to account for all the Government transactions relating to receipts and payments in the FY 2023-24 itself. Accordingly, Agency Banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday)".
This decision comes amidst a month with 14 non-working days for banks nationwide. It's a significant move as March 31 marks the official end of the financial year and the beginning of the new fiscal year, FY25.
SBI | Representative pic
The statement further reads, "Banks shall give due publicity about the availability of above banking services on this day."
Meanwhile, on account of Good Friday Banks along with stock markets will remain closed for operations on 29 March.
As per RBI notification issued in May 2023, the list of Agency Banks are as follows:
Public Sector Banks
1) Bank of Baroda
2) Bank of India
3) Bank of Maharashtra
4) Canara Bank
5) Central Bank of India
6) Indian Bank
7) Indian Overseas Bank
8) Punjab and Sind Bank
9) Punjab National Bank
10) State Bank of India
11) UCO Bank
12) Union Bank of India
Private Sector Banks
1) Axis Bank Ltd.
2) City Union Bank Ltd.
3) DCB Bank Ltd
4) Federal Bank Ltd.
5) HDFC Bank Ltd.
6) ICICI Bank Ltd.
7) IDBI Bank Ltd.
8) IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd
9) IndusInd Bank Ltd
10) Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. *
11) Karnataka Bank Ltd.
12) Karur Vysya Bank Ltd.
13) Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
14) RBL Bank Ltd
15) South Indian Bank Ltd.
16) Yes Bank Ltd.
17) Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd.
18) Bandhan Bank Ltd.
19) CSB Bank Ltd.
20) Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd.
