Five-day banking week: Panel to discuss proposal today; RBI, finance ministry to take final call

A committee set up to examine the shift to a five-day banking week will hold its first meeting today and is expected to finalise its report quickly, said C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary of the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA).

“Once the committee submits its recommendation, it will be up to the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry to take it forward and make the necessary legislative changes,” he said.

Talks on other issues—including performance-linked incentives and demands for better pensions and working conditions—will be held separately, as they fall outside the new committee’s mandate, he said. AIBEA is one of the seven unions that constitute the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) formed the high-level committee on Tuesday, soon after bank unions called off a three-day strike amid continuing negotiations. Its mandate is to discuss the implementation of a five-day banking week.

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The panel comprises senior representatives of the IBA and UFBU, along with BKSM General Secretary Vinod Nikam. Bank of India MD and CEO Rajneesh Karnatak will chair it, while Punjab National Bank MD and CEO Ashok Chandra will serve as alternate chairman.

Sources said the panel is expected to examine ways to give employees a five-day work week while keeping banks open on two Saturdays each month. “The idea is to ensure that customers continue to have easy access to banking services while employees get a five-day work week,” they said.

Bank unions have long demanded a Monday-to-Friday schedule, arguing that employees already work extended hours. They also note that the Reserve Bank of India and the Department of Financial Services follow a five-day work week.

Banks are currently closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month. The five-day-week proposal has been under discussion for more than two years, and unions maintain that the 12th bipartite settlement included a formal commitment to implement it.