3-Day Bank Strike: Is Your Cash Access Safe?

Banking unions have called a 3-day strike after talks with IBA broke down. Branch services, cash counters, and cheque clearing may be affected. Here's what every account holder needs to do before the strike hits.

Here's what happened: Banking unions under the UFBU umbrella have announced a 3-day nationwide strike after wage revision and 5-day banking week demands remained unresolved with the IBA.. The government has directed IBA to keep the productivity-linked incentive scheme for Scale IV officers and above in abeyance, a key sticking point that pushed unions toward the strike.. Public sector bank branches — which serve the majority of India's 50 crore-plus account holders — are expected to face significant disruption during the strike period..

What you should do: Withdraw enough cash today to cover 4-5 days of household expenses — don't wait until the strike morning to find empty ATMs.. Pre-schedule all upcoming EMI payments, utility bills, and rent transfers via net banking or UPI right now so no auto-debit fails during the strike window.. Avoid depositing cheques 2-3 days before the strike — delayed clearing can push your account into a negative balance and trigger EMI bounces that hurt your CIBIL score..

Even during strikes, RBI's NEFT and RTGS systems remain operational via internet banking — use these for urgent large transfers instead of branch visits or cheques.