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Today, Vijayadashami i.e. Dussehra, the great festival of victory of religion over unrighteousness, is being celebrated with great enthusiasm and pomp across the country. In this festive season, if you too are stuck with check clearance, draft making, cash deposit or any important work related to the bank branch, then this news is very important for you before leaving the house. According to the official bank holiday calendar released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the physical branches of public and private sector banks will remain completely closed in almost all the states of the country today on Tuesday on the auspicious occasion of Dussehra (Vijayadashami) and Durga Puja. Locks of bank branches in big cities like capital Lucknow, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Bhopal will not open today, hence customers should avoid visiting the branch to avoid inconvenience.
During the festive season, there is often confusion in the minds of customers regarding bank holidays. According to RBI rules, bank holidays are determined in three different categories, which include holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) holidays and holidays related to closure of accounts of banks. The Dussehra holiday comes under the Negotiable Instruments Act, due to which there is complete suspension of work in financial institutions and commercial banks at the national level. However, technically digital services will continue uninterrupted, due to which the common man will not have to face any major hindrance in normal transactions.
Analysis of the regional holiday list of the Reserve Bank makes it clear that today Dussehra has been given a public holiday to bank employees in most parts of North, South, East and West India. Locks will remain in all nationalized and private banks today in Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. There will be silence today in the bank premises of major business centers like Hazratganj, Gomti Nagar and Lalbagh of Lucknow, as business activities and branch operations are completely suspended.
Talking about western and southern states, banks have also been given complete holiday on the occasion of Vijayadashami in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Whereas in the eastern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya, due to the peak of Durga Puja and Vijayadashami celebrations, banks are continuously going through holidays. Administrative and financial functioning has been completely closed in all these states so that employees and general public can celebrate this holy festival with joy and happiness with their families.
RBI’s regional holiday calendar varies in dates as per local traditions and cultural beliefs. Under this rule, regular banking operations can be seen today at some places in one or two selected north-eastern states of the country like Sikkim and Manipur, because holidays there on the occasion of Vijayadashami and Durga Puja have been fixed for the coming days. Based on local notifications, state governments have adjusted the dates as per their regional festivals.
Additionally, some highly specialized back-office operations located in international financial centers or special economic zones (SEZs) where global transactions are settled may have limited in-house operations, but no public dealing counter services will be available to the general public. It is important for common account holders to clearly understand that retail banking services will remain completely disrupted in more than 95 percent of the country, hence visiting the branch for any counter related work may prove to be a waste of time.
There is no need for account holders to panic despite physical bank branches remaining closed, as modern digital banking technology has made financial transactions accessible 24 hours and 365 days. UPI (Unified Payments Interface) services will be fully active, allowing you to transfer money or pay for purchases at stores anytime through Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM or your bank’s official UPI app.
Apart from this, IMPS transfer facility through Net Banking and Mobile Banking will be available 24 hours without any interruption. Digital payments made through NEFT and RTGS will also be processed normally, although some large corporate clearances will be settled on the next working day. ATMs and Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) of all major public and private banks will remain operational as usual, so that common people do not face any kind of shortage in case of need of cash during the festival.
Vijayadashami holiday will have a direct impact on those customers whose check clearance or any important work related to bank draft was pending as on today. The clearance process will be halted at the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) and Check Truncation System (CTS) today due to public holiday. If you deposited a check on Monday evening or handed over a check dated today to any party, its actual settlement and credit of the amount in the account will be possible only on the next working day.
Merchants and traders are advised to maintain sufficient balance for their important payments and EMI deductions in advance to avoid financial hassles like bounce charges or penalties when the system processes the transactions in one go on the day after the holiday. When bank branches reopen at their regular timings tomorrow, branches may see a higher than usual rush of customers in the early hours as the pressure of pending work increases immediately after the festival season.
This month of October brings a long series of festivals, in which after Vijayadashami, big festivals like Dhanteras, Narak Chaturdashi, Diwali, Govardhan Puja and Bhaidooj are coming in the coming weeks. In such a situation, financial experts are of the opinion that customers should complete their important bank related tasks like KYC updation, getting a new check book, locker operation, fixed deposit renewal or foreign exchange related tasks in advance on working days instead of postponing them till the last date.
Advance information about holidays for the entire month is available on the official websites of banks and RBI portal, which includes weekly holidays of second and fourth Saturdays as well as Sundays. If you are comfortable using digital channels, most services do not require a branch visit. But if there is any work which is possible only by having physical presence at the bank premises, then visit the branch in the afternoon after the bank opens tomorrow to avoid the possible morning rush.