Will banks be closed on January 27? All you need to know
If banks are closed on January 27, that would be the third consecutive bank holiday after Sunday, and Monday for Republic Day.
- Jan 25, 2026,
- Updated Jan 25, 2026 12:24 PM IST
Bank employee unions have announced a nationwide strike on January 27 to demand a five-day work week.
If the strike takes place, public sector banks will remain affected for three days, as January 25 and 26 are already holidays. Many public sector banks have informed customers that banking services may be disrupted.
The strike decision was taken after talks with the government failed. The Chief Labour Commissioner held conciliation meetings on Wednesday and Thursday after the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) served a strike notice.
“In response to the strike notice served by the UFBU, the Chief Labour Commissioner held a conciliation meeting on Wednesday and Thursday,” UFBU said in a statement.
“Besides representatives of IBA and various Banks, representatives of DFS, the Ministry of Finance, were present. From UFBU, all our 9 unions were present. Despite detailed discussions, finally there was no positive outcome out of the conciliation proceedings,” it said.
“Hence it has been decided to go ahead with the strike on January 27,” the statement added.
At present, bank employees get Sundays and the second and fourth Saturdays off every month. The decision to make all Saturdays holidays was agreed between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and UFBU during the wage settlement in March 2024, but it has not been implemented yet.
“It is unfortunate that the government is not responding to our genuine demand. There would be no loss of man-hours as we have agreed to work an extra 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday,” UFBU had said earlier this month.
UFBU said that RBI, LIC, GIC, stock exchanges and government offices already follow a five-day work week and questioned why banks are still working six days.
UFBU represents nine major bank unions across public sector banks and some old private banks.
The strike is not expected to affect major private banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
(With inputs from PTI)
Bank employee unions have announced a nationwide strike on January 27 to demand a five-day work week.
If the strike takes place, public sector banks will remain affected for three days, as January 25 and 26 are already holidays. Many public sector banks have informed customers that banking services may be disrupted.
The strike decision was taken after talks with the government failed. The Chief Labour Commissioner held conciliation meetings on Wednesday and Thursday after the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) served a strike notice.
“In response to the strike notice served by the UFBU, the Chief Labour Commissioner held a conciliation meeting on Wednesday and Thursday,” UFBU said in a statement.
“Besides representatives of IBA and various Banks, representatives of DFS, the Ministry of Finance, were present. From UFBU, all our 9 unions were present. Despite detailed discussions, finally there was no positive outcome out of the conciliation proceedings,” it said.
“Hence it has been decided to go ahead with the strike on January 27,” the statement added.
At present, bank employees get Sundays and the second and fourth Saturdays off every month. The decision to make all Saturdays holidays was agreed between the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and UFBU during the wage settlement in March 2024, but it has not been implemented yet.
“It is unfortunate that the government is not responding to our genuine demand. There would be no loss of man-hours as we have agreed to work an extra 40 minutes daily from Monday to Friday,” UFBU had said earlier this month.
UFBU said that RBI, LIC, GIC, stock exchanges and government offices already follow a five-day work week and questioned why banks are still working six days.
UFBU represents nine major bank unions across public sector banks and some old private banks.
The strike is not expected to affect major private banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
(With inputs from PTI)