Weekend working: Know which offices will be open on March 30 and March 31

March 31 is generally the last working day of the current financial year. The day is significant as it is the last day of transactions for many institutions like banks, insurers and even the tax department. But this year, March 31 is a Sunday and it was a long weekend for the concerned employees as March 28 is Good Friday, which is a holiday for most government offices.

Now to resolve the complications and ease the financial year closure, the Reserve Bank of India, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Income Tax Department have made March 31 as a working day.

Banks to remain open

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notice declaring that all agency banks dealing with government transactions will continue operations on March 31, 2024. These agency banks, as appointed by the RBI, have been delegated to manage financial matters pertaining to governmental sectors. This intricate system encompasses both public and private sector banks along with an international bank inclusion; ensuring extensive reach and seamless accessibility for dealings concerning the government’s fiscal affairs. 

According to the RBI notification dated March 20, 2024, “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).”

In a separate press release, RBI said: “With a view to providing greater convenience to tax payers, it has been decided that RBI offices dealing with Government business and all designated branches of agency banks conducting government banking business will keep their counters open as per normal working hours on March 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024; electronic transactions can be done till the stipulated time on both the days.”

Services that will be available on March 31, 2024

NEFT and RTGS

RBI has said transactions through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) System will continue up to mid night 2400 as hitherto on March 31, 2024.

Cheque clearing

RBI has advised agency Banks that all cheques related to Government accounts may be presented on such clearing. Note that the timing for presentation and return clearing of instruments for these special clearing sessions for government cheques will be intimated in due course.

Transactions relating to the following government business undertaken by agency banks are eligible for agency commission:

> Revenue receipts and payments on behalf of the Central/State Government > Pension payments in respect of Central / State Governments > Special Deposit Scheme (SDS) 1975 > Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme, 1968 > Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), 2004 > Kisan Vikas Patra, 2014 and Sukanya Samriddhi Account

Any other item of work specifically advised by Reserve Bank as eligible for agency commission (viz. Relief Bonds/ Savings Bonds etc. transactions)

Banks which will be open

The RBI has designated 33 agency banks to remain operational on this significant date. This list comprises 12 public sector banks, including prominent names such as the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Bank of Baroda (BoB), alongside 20 private sector banks, with HDFC Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd among them. Additionally, DBS Bank India Ltd. represents the sole foreign bank in this arrangement. These banks are set to provide full services on March 31.

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 13. Axis Bank Ltd 14. City Union Bank Ltd 15. DCB Bank Ltd 16. Federal Bank Ltd 17. HDFC Bank Ltd 18. ICICI Bank Ltd 19. IDBI Bank Ltd 20. IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd 21. IndusInd Bank Ltd 22. Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd 23. Karnataka Bank Ltd 24. Karur Vysya Bank Ltd 25. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd 26. RBL Bank Ltd 27. South Indian Bank Ltd 28. Yes Bank Ltd 29. Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd 30. Bandhan Bank Ltd 31. CSB Bank Ltd 32. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd Foreign banks 33. DBS Bank India Limited 

Insurance offices IRDAI has also asked its offices to be opne on March 30 and March 31.

"In order to avoid any hardships to policyholders, the insurers are hereby advised to keep their offices open as per normal working hours on March 30, 2024 and March 31, 2024. The insurers may take note and give adequate publicity to the special arrangement made as above," IRDAI said in a notification issued on March 28, 2024.

LIC offices

In a recent tweet, LIC said: "It has been decided that offices under the jurisdiction of zones and divisions will be kept open for normal operations as per official working hours on 30.3.2024 and 31.3.2024, in order to avoid any hardships for policyholders. This is as per advisory issued by IRDAI on March 28, 2024." 

Income Tax department

Earlier this month, the Income-Tax department announced that it will not be observing this long weekend and will remain operational from March 29 to March 31 to facilitate the completion of pending tax-related tasks. 

"To facilitate completion of pending departmental work, all the Income Tax Offices throughout India shall remain open on 29th, 30th and 31st March 2024," said the Income-tax department in an order dated March 18, 2024.

The extended deadline until March 31 will allow individuals to fulfill tax obligations like updating income tax returns for 2021-22 and making tax-saving investments efficiently. This extra time helps reduce stress and ensures compliance with tax regulations. Make the most of these additional working days to manage your finances effectively.