Varanasi Banks Worked Sunday; Three-Day UFBU Strike Called Off Overnight

Public sector and regional rural bank branches in Varanasi stayed open on Sunday, 27 September, so customers could finish cash and cheque work before a proposed three-day United Forum of Bank Unions strike. That strike was called off late Sunday night after the Indian Banks' Association agreed to form a high-level committee on remaining Saturdays as holidays.

The Sunday opening followed Reserve Bank and government guidance ahead of the UFBU's proposed strike window of 28 to 30 September. The unions had been pressing for a five-day banking week. Branch officers advised customers to complete essential cash deposits, withdrawals and cheque clearing before that window. Digital banking, UPI, internet banking and ATMs were to continue regardless of any branch closure.

For city customers the Sunday counters mattered because the proposed Monday-to-Wednesday stoppage would have compressed the week after a rain-hit Saturday. Queues at public-sector and regional rural branches on a day that is usually shut reflected that squeeze. Officers kept the message practical: finish cash and cheque work while the counter is open; electronic channels stay up either way.

Late Sunday night an IBA-UFBU understanding deferred or called off the strike. A high-level IBA-UFBU committee will deliberate declaring remaining Saturdays as holidays and explore alternatives with stakeholders, including customers. Residual settlement and performance-linked incentive issues also sit in the national talks. Monday, 28 September, is expected to see normal banking hours in Varanasi.

The Varanasi angle is the working Sunday itself. Public-sector and regional rural branches ran ordinary counter work rather than only back-office clearing. That put cash and cheque customers through the same glass windows they use on a weekday, which is why the RBI-guided opening was reported as a rare public Sunday for general banking, not a special festival desk.

This brief stays on the civic and customer side. It does not frame the dispute as a union-versus-government fight. The facts on the Varanasi desk are the Sunday branch opening under RBI guidance, the proposed 28-30 September strike for a five-day week, the late-night call-off after the committee understanding, and the expectation of normal Monday banking.

Anyone who still needs to move cash or clear a cheque on Monday should treat branch hours as normal unless a fresh notice says otherwise. ATMs and UPI were never part of the proposed stoppage. Mobile banking and internet banking were likewise outside the branch-closure plan. The committee process on Saturday holidays will run at the national IBA-UFBU table; local branches will follow whatever calendar that process eventually settles.

Households that cleared salary deposits, school fees or vendor cheques on Sunday have already used the opening for its intended purpose. Those who waited for Monday now have the ordinary weekday window back. If a later national notice changes branch hours again, that notice will supersede Sunday night's call-off; until then, treat Monday as a normal banking day in the city.

Until a further notice lands, Varanasi's story is straightforward: Sunday counters were open for essential work, the three-day strike did not begin, and Monday banking is expected to run as usual while the high-level committee takes up the Saturday-holiday question.