Banks Call For Strike Against Mega Merger Plan
Four bank unions have announced a two-day strike on September 26-27 to protest against the government's decision to merge 10 public sector banks into four banks.
On August 30, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced four mergers, a move she said would result in 12 public sector banks in the system instead of 27.
The four unions that have called for the strike are the All India Bank Officer's Confederation, the All India Bank Officer's Association, the Indian National Bank Officer's Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers. The bank officers have also warned of an indefinite strike from the second week of November - to protest against the merger plan involving 10 nationalised banks. With September 28 being fourth Saturday and September 29 a Sunday, the two-day strike will result in a four-day break for banking services. The nation-wide strike would impact banking services like deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearances and issuance of demand drafts, among others. Although, net banking services would continue as usual. “The two-day bank strike, followed by two consecutive weekly offs will primarily impact cheque clearances, issuance of DD/PO, cash deposits/withdrawals and any other services availed at bank branches and ATMs. Banking consumers should work out their cash flows in advance and make adequate cash deposit or withdrawals before the bank strike," said Naveen Kukreja, CEO and co-founder, Paisabazaar.com. The Union government have carried out two similar mergers since 2017. Protests followed the mergers. In January this year, cheques worth about ₹20,000 crore could not be cleared by the clearing houses all over the country due to a two-day bank strike.
The four unions that have called for the strike are the All India Bank Officer's Confederation, the All India Bank Officer's Association, the Indian National Bank Officer's Congress and the National Organisation of Bank Officers. The bank officers have also warned of an indefinite strike from the second week of November - to protest against the merger plan involving 10 nationalised banks. With September 28 being fourth Saturday and September 29 a Sunday, the two-day strike will result in a four-day break for banking services. The nation-wide strike would impact banking services like deposits and withdrawal at branches, cheque clearances and issuance of demand drafts, among others. Although, net banking services would continue as usual. “The two-day bank strike, followed by two consecutive weekly offs will primarily impact cheque clearances, issuance of DD/PO, cash deposits/withdrawals and any other services availed at bank branches and ATMs. Banking consumers should work out their cash flows in advance and make adequate cash deposit or withdrawals before the bank strike," said Naveen Kukreja, CEO and co-founder, Paisabazaar.com. The Union government have carried out two similar mergers since 2017. Protests followed the mergers. In January this year, cheques worth about ₹20,000 crore could not be cleared by the clearing houses all over the country due to a two-day bank strike.
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