RBI employees to go on two-day strike; NEFT, RTGS service may take a hit

The employees of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will go on a two-day mass leave on September 4 and 5. The strike, called by  United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees (UFRBOE) over pension issues, is likely to affect RBI's day-to-day functioning.

While the strike is expected to hit the operations of country's apex bank, it is unlikely to affect public and private sector banks. "It's only the RBI employees who are going on mass casual leave on September 4-5 for demands related to to Provident Fund and pension. This will not have much impact on the day-to-day operations of the other public and private sector banks," National Organization of Bank Workers Vice President Ashwani Rana told news agency IANS.

Even though all other state-run banks and private lenders will function normally, the strike may affect services like RTGS and NEFT, which are used to transfer money.

All India Reserve Bank Employees Association General Secretary Samir Ghosh told FE Online that ATM services will not be affected, but it will seriously affect RTGS & NEFT operations thereby it will affect big payments, business transactions, stock markets etc.

RBI employees had earlier rejected Governor Urjit Patel's request to withdraw their two-day mass leave programme. The employees of the Reserve Bank of India are demanding pension updation for about 21,000 retirees and one more chance to switch from Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) to pension for 2600 CPF retainers.

The banks will remain open on Thursday and Friday as both are regular working days. However, banks will remain closed on September 8 due to second Saturday holiday.