The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced that customers will not be charged for ATM transactions from September 28 to 30 amid the proposed three-day nationwide bank strike.
SBI said the move has been taken to ensure customer convenience and prevent disruption to banking services during the strike period. The bank said its services will remain available to customers and all ATM transactions made at any bank’s ATM will be free of charge during the three-day period.
SBI also announced that all its branches will remain open on Sunday, September 27, to help customers meet their banking needs ahead of the strike.
Digital payment services, including UPI, IMPS, RTGS and NEFT, will continue to operate as usual during the strike, the bank said.
The government has also directed public sector banks to remain open on Sunday to minimise disruption to essential banking services. The Reserve Bank of India has approved the opening of all bank branches, offices, ATM-link branches and Currency Chests on September 27.
The Finance Ministry said all public sector banks and Regional Rural Banks will function normally on Sunday.
The measures come ahead of the three-day nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) from September 28 to 30. The strike follows the weekend holidays on September 26 and 27, which could otherwise have resulted in banking services being affected for five consecutive days.
The government and bank managements have appealed to unions to defer the proposed strike while taking steps to ensure that essential banking services remain available to the public.