Banks to reduce to working hours amid COVID-19, THESE services to continue

Keeping in mind the rise of COVID-19 cases in India, banks have been advised by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to restrict their working hours between 10 am to 2 pm, as per a report in Mint. 

We are going through the challenging period of resurgence of the mutant virus with several states reporting record high daily numbers of new infections and there are serious concerns about the economic activities," IBA said in a letter to State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) convenors on 21 April. 

The industry body has also said that employees may be called on rotational basis or be allowed to work from home, depending on the nature of job, staff position and size of the establishment. As per the letter, ideally 50% of the employees may be called for “in person" duty and on rotation basis,"

The IBA issued some extra advisories in addition to the SOPs issued last year in a special managing committee meeting convened on April 21.

However, four mandatory services provided by the banks will continue. These are - cash withdrawals, accepting deposits, remittance and government businesses.

The SLBCs of each state and union territory will review the situation in their respective locations and decide on additional services that can be provided under existing situation, the letter said.

As per the report, some some SLBCs have already decided to implement shorter banking hours of 10 am to 2 pm as against 10 am to 4 pm. Resonating with the new advisory, pregnant women and staff members with co-morbidities or physical disabilities of the Bihar SLBC will be working from home.