PSU banks on strike today; cash services to be affected

Normal banking transactions will come to a halt on Tuesday as all public sector banks have declared a nationwide strike to protest, among other things, the government’s proposed move to merge public sector banks.

The day-long strike has been called by various unions under the umbrella of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which has nine unions under its fold. Around one million bank employees are expected to participate in the strike across the country.

Private sector banks will not be part of the strike, sources told DH.

Among other demands, the unions are demanding making the list of wilful defaulters and large NPAs (Non-performing assets) public.

Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has already communicated to bank customers about the disruption of banking operations. Deposit and withdrawal of funds, cheque clearance and other cash transactions will not take place, while administrative work will not be affected, a senior bank official said.

Operations at private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank and Yes Bank among others are expected to remain as usual.

All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) and National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) have joined the strike.

The bank employees are also demanding that there should be no write-off policy for non-performing assets (NPAs) of corporate loans, declaring wilful default of loans as a criminal offence, reimbursement of cost arising out of demonetisation and implementation of recommendations of Parliamentary Committee on recovery of NPAs, the sources said.

DH News Service