Bank holidays on second and fourth Saturdays to begin today

Bringing cheers to lakhs of bank employees, the government has accepted the long-pending demand of workers to declare second and fourth Saturdays holidays, with effect from September 1.

"The notification regarding Saturday off has come. It is effective from September 1," All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) General Secretary C H Venkatachalam told PTI.

At present, all PSU and private sector banks work half-day on Saturdays.

"This is a welcome move. This will be a big relief to employees and I hope that this will improve the productivity of employees," he said.

In case of a month having five Saturdays, banks will be closed only on second and fourth Saturdays. 

As per the ICICI Bank website the guidelines issued by Reserve Bank of India say that NEFT/RTGS facility will also not be operational on the second and fourth Saturdays  and will operate full day on 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturday (if any) of the month, w.e.f. September 1, 2015.

HDFC Bank tweeted saying that NEFT/RTGS can be processed on the mentioned Saturdays but it will settled the next working day i.e the next Monday. 

@shilpaanand NEFT/ RTGS can be done/processed on 2nd and 4th Saturday, but the same will be settled the next working day. -Anay

— HDFC Bank (@HDFCBank_Cares) September 11, 2015