The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions in the banking sector has called for a two-day nationwide strike on January 31 and February 1 on wage revision failed to make any headway, said a leader of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA).

The bankers have called strike on the day when the Economic Survey will be presented and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be presenting her second budget on Saturday, 1 February.

Many banks, including State Bank of India (SBI), had informed customers in advance that operations may be impacted to some extent due to the strike. However, private sector lenders like ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and HDFC Bank will be operational and unaffected from the strike.

Banking operations cash deposit, withdrawal, cheque clearances, instrument issuance and loan disbursement across the country will be affected as bank branches will remain close and functioning of ATMs may also be paralyzed.

“In the clearing grids in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and all major cities about 31 lakh cheques worth about ₹23,000 crore could not be cleared due to the strike. Most of the bank branches remained closed. Cash could not be deposited or withdrawn.”

C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA

Unions are demanding 20 per cent hike in payslip components, scrapping of the new pension scheme, merger of special allowance with basic pay, allocation of Staff Welfare Fund based on operating profits, exemption from income tax on retirement benefits without a ceiling and a 5-day workweek. The major demand of bank employees strike is the hike in the employees’ salary, which was last appreciated by 15% in November 2017.