Employees of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) staged protests on Friday at several offices of the central bank across the country, including its headquarters in Mumbai. The protests were held against a new internal promotion policy that links promotions to vacancies instead of the earlier time-bound system.
What is the new promotion policy of RBI?
Under the revised policy issued on May 5, promotion from Grade B to Grade C will remain time-bound and require a minimum of seven years of service.
However, promotions from Grade C to Grade D and further up to Grade F will now depend on the availability of vacancies.
According to RBI officers, there is already severe stagnation in promotions due to poor long-term manpower planning.
Employees said the new policy will especially affect promotions from Grade C to Grade D. An RBI employee said an officer could remain in Grade C for up to 15 years under the new system.
The employee explained that when promotions to higher grades become vacancy-based, fewer positions open up in lower grades as well, increasing delays in promotions.
For example, this year there were only around 40 vacancies in Grade D, while each batch of Grade C officers has around 150–200 employees. As a result, officers from the same batch may need up to five years to get promoted to Grade D.
Earlier Protests and Decreasing Vacancies
This is not the first time promotion policy of RBI has triggered unrest among employees. In December 2018, a circular was released raising the non-promotion cut-off from the bottom 10% of officers to the bottom 25%. This also sparked a spontaneous strike, and agitated officers demanded to meet the then-Governor of RBI.
The vacancies for RBI Grade B exam has also declined sharply. Vacancies stood at 294 in 2022 and 291 in 2023, before falling to 94 in 2024, recovering slightly to 120 in 2025, and dropping again to just 60 in the current 2026 cycle.
In 2026, RBI has released the lowest vacancies for Grade B recruitment. With fewer officers entering at Grade B and internal promotions now constrained at Grade C to D, officers say the career pipeline is narrowing from both ends simultaneously.
RBI generally conducts recruitment at two levels – Grade B and Assistant. The RBI’s officer cadre runs from Grade A to Grade F. Generally, Assistants get promoted to Grade A.
Promotions have historically been time-bound: Grade B to C takes seven years, Grade C to D previously took five years and, Grade D to E takes around four to five years on a performance basis, and Grade E to F involves an interview. The Grade is the senior executive of RBI.
Association writes letter
In a letter to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, the Reserve Bank of India Officers’ Association (RBIOA) requested the top management to urgently review the revised promotion policy. The association asked the RBI to discuss the matter with RBIOA and create a fair and balanced system for career growth of officers.
A senior RBI official said the central bank reviews its internal HR policies from time to time and will discuss the issues with employees to address their concerns. However, the RBI’s official spokesperson did not respond to media queries regarding the protests and HR policy changes.
During the protest at the Mumbai head office, employees were addressed by RBI Deputy Governor Swaminathan Janakiraman.
In the letter, RBIOA General Secretary Jeet Pathak said the association had joined discussions with the hope that the long-standing issue of stagnation in officer promotions would finally be solved.
The association said that although RBI management had earlier indicated the possibility of some time-bound promotions, the final policy failed to address the main concerns raised by employees. RBIOA demanded assured, time-bound promotions for officers from Grade A to Grade E to ensure fair and predictable career growth.
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