UFBU urges DFS Secretary to withdraw Order regarding Opening of Banks on Sunday

Recently, the public sector banks in India have been ordered to open branches on Sunday (3 August 2025) to facilitate payments of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. The Prime Minister of India will release the 20th installment to the eligible PM KISAN Farmers on 2nd August 2025 (Saturday).

Due to this, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance has directed the Banks to keep open the Branches from 29th July to 2nd August 2025 along with the following day i.e. 3rd August 2025 (Sunday) to enable payment to the beneficiaries on the due date event.

Banks are already suffering from staff shortage and extreme work pressure. Now if the bank branches open on 3 August 2025, then the bank staff will not get holiday even on Sunday. They will be forced to work 7 days a week.

Keeping this in view, now UFBU (United Forum of Bank Unions) has written a letter to DFS Secretary.

UFBU says that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has not issued any official notice to declare Sunday, 3rd August 2025 as a working day under the Negotiable Instruments Act. There is also no Gazette notification saying that banks should open on this day.

Because of this, banks do not have legal permission to open their systems or carry out regular banking work like clearing cheques or doing interbank transactions. Still, some instructions have been given to keep bank branches open, which puts staff in a confusing and unfair situation.

Bank employees are already working under a lot of pressure due to less staff, increased customer rush, tough targets, and the added burden of running many government schemes. Due to all this, issues like stress, poor mental health, and even suicides among bank staff are becoming more common.

Now, with the instruction to work on 3rd August (Sunday), bank staff will have to work 12 days in a row, from 28th July to 12th August, without any break. This goes against labour laws, and will cause tiredness and burnout among employees.

The government already knew that the PM-KISAN scheme’s 20th installment was due during this time. Instead of last-minute orders, they should have discussed the workload with bank unions and found a better plan.

Bank employees have been asking for a 5-day workweek for a long time, just like many others around the world, to stay healthy and well. But the government has not taken this seriously. Forcing banks to open on a Sunday, without proper legal backing or extra compensation, is unfair and shows a lack of care for employees.

Public Sector Banks (PSBs) handle almost all government schemes like PM-KISAN. The workload is huge, with just one employee for every 2,100 customers, compared to 1 for 400 in private banks.

It’s worrying that the government is putting so much work on PSBs, even on holidays, without thinking about the health and well-being of bank staff.

Making bank employees work on a Sunday without proper planning, legal approval, or rest is not just unfair — it shows poor decision-making and lack of support for the people who help run important government schemes.

UFBU has urged DFS to immediately withdraw directions to keep branches open on Sundays or holidays unless legally mandated under the N.I Act and through Gazette notification.

UFBU has also urged DFS to discuss Uniform norms on compensation for working on holidays, financial incentive for employees, Overtime wages, etc. including for working on Sunday, 3rd August, 2025 and Fast-track the long-pending implementation of already agreed upon 5-day workweek.