Banking services will be affected across the country in the coming days due to strikes, Christmas holiday and the weekend. While ATM services are likely to remain unaffected, bank branches will be open only on Monday between Friday and Wednesday.
Cheque and cash withdrawals at banks won't be possible during the five days (21st, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 26th December). Two bank employee unions, All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC) and United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), have called for strikes on December 21 and 26 respectively in protest against the impending merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. The government had given its approval for the merger of the three public sector banks back in September. The AIBOC is also protesting against Indian Banks' Associations (IBA) move to leave officers of scale IV and above out of the bipartite wage settlement scope.
The first bank strike called by the AIBOC will be in effect for 24 hours starting from the midnight today till midnight of December 21. The constituent unions of the UFBU have called for strike from 6:00 am on December 26 to 6.00 am on December27. Several banks have informed in regulatory filings that banking operations in their branches will be affected on the aforementioned dates due to bank union strikes.
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The AIBOC strike on December 21 will not include employees managing ATMs. However, the UFBU strike on December 26, which will see participation from nine employee and officer unions, might take a toll on ATM operations.
The banks will also be closed on December 22 as it is the fourth Saturday of the month, and on December 23, which is a Sunday. Banks will open on December 24 (Monday), before closing for Christmas on December 25.
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