5 Days working in Bank : Bank employees and associations are advocating for a significantly longer 5-day work week. By the year 2026, banks might adopt a 5-day working system. This proposal is currently being formally reviewed by the government. On 28 July 2025, the Finance Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that the Indian Banks Association (IBA) had put forth a proposal to designate all Saturdays as bank holidays. This change would lead to a five-day work week in the banking sector. Banks would operate from Monday to Friday and remain closed on all Saturdays and Sundays.
What is the proposal of 5-day banking week?
The Bank Association has proposed that banks remain closed every Saturday and Sunday. This would require employees to work from Monday to Friday. However, to ensure consistent weekly hours, employees may need to work around 40 minutes longer each day throughout the week. The union asserts that this will not negatively affect customer service. AIBOC believes this change will enhance employee morale and improve work quality, ultimately benefiting the banking sector.
What happened so far?
The push for a five-day work week gained traction in March this year when the IBA and major bank unions signed a joint note recommending it to the government. In July 2025, the Finance Ministry updated Parliament that the proposal was still under review. Earlier, in April 2025, the Ministry had suggested that the proposal was unlikely to be enacted in the financial year 2025–26. This change requires approval from both the Finance Ministry and the RBI, and neither has yet granted final approval.
How is the banking system at present?
Currently, banks operate under regulations established in August 2015. According to these guidelines, banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. On other Saturdays, banks are open and function as regular working days. The government has clarified that shortage of staff is not the reason for the stalling of this proposal.
Responding to a question from Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, the Finance Ministry stated that 96% of positions in public sector banks are filled. The remaining vacancies are due to normal retirement and other irregular reasons. However, these are not considered an obstacle to the proposal.
When will the 5-day banking week start?
No deadline has been set for implementing this proposal yet. The proposal is under review by both the government and the RBI.
