As soon as the new financial year sets in, a lot of things will start for the banking and finance sector. A new financial year is a ray of hope for bankers whereas a new financial year can be mentally taxing for the customers. This situation is because of the holidays that bank employees get during the first quarter of the Financial Year. In April, there were close to 10 banking holidays across the country whereas it is set to increase for May.
In the month of May, most of the banks all over India will be closed for up to 12 days. These holidays include festivals and weekends. Banks observe only gazetted holidays all over the country while certain holidays may differ from every city or state.
Most of the banks remain closed on public holidays as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, bank holiday calendar. Common holidays or the holidays observed by banks and other government institutions all over India are January 26, Republic Day, August 15, Independence Day, October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, December 25, Christmas Day. Also, other holidays of festivals like Diwali, Eid, Christmas, Good Friday, Guru Nanak Jayanti, etc. are bank holidays. Apart from these, second and fourth Saturdays banks remain closed may it be in the private or public sector.
As per the Reserve Bank of India’s bank holiday calendar, in May, most banks whether it is private, public, foreign, cooperative, or regional banks, will be observing holidays on May 1 on account of Labour Day, May 7 Jumat-ul-Vida, May 13 Eid-ul-Fitr or Ramzan, May 14 Akshaya Tritiya, and May 26 on account of Buddha Poornima. It should also be noted that not all banks all over the country will have these 5 days holidays as holidays differ from state to state depending on major people observing a festival in a particular state. Also, the weekend holidays in May include May 2, May 9, May 16, May 23, May 30 that are Sundays, and May 8th and May 22nd for Fourth Saturdays.
May 1st, 7th, May 13th, May 14th, and May 26th these days are not observed holidays in few North Indian and North Eastern state cities of India such as these cities: Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Gangtok, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Lucknow, New Delhi, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, Shimla, and Srinagar. These cities do not have a holiday on May 1st.
Banks in cities Belapur, Jammu, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram will observe a holiday on May 13th which is on Ramzan. In a similar manner, on May 26th on account of Buddha Poornima, banks in major cities will be functional as in Aizawl, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kochi, Panaji, Patna, Shillong, and Thiruvananthapuram.
Hence it is advised to the customers to be aware of the bank holidays in their particular city and state for the month of May and then plan their visit to a particular branch in a state. Do not forget to follow COVID guidelines and precautions issued by the Government of India while you visit your nearest banks. Wear a mask and remember to maintain social distancing in the banks.
As usual, mobile and internet banking will be functional on both working and non-working days of the banks. Moreover, internet banking is at full stretch since last year. The customers are advised to use mobile banking and internet banking for immediate and emergency purposes. For the things like Demand Draft or account closure, one can visit the bank with a proper Identity card and document as the country is fighting through the pandemic.
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