Banking operations in the country were hit as 10 lakh employees, primarily from PSU banks, went on 2-day strike to protest against a "meagre" 2 per cent salary hike offered by Indian Banks Association (IBA) the management body. The strike, also supported by employees of some old generation private sector banks and foreign banks, will continue today.
Operations at the new-generation private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank were however almost normal, barring few activities including cheque clearance. According to official estimates, just about 25 per cent of the total branches were functioning. However, about 80 per cent of ATMs were dispensing cash till the close of the banking hours. There were reports of disruption in banking operations in various states. The impact of strike in certain states like Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand was more severe compared to other states.
Nearly 10 lakh employees, working in various branches of 21 public sector banks, 13 old generation private sector banks, six foreign banks and 56 regional rural banks across the country went on the strike as IBA offered them a nominal wage revision, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), affiliate of UFBU said in a statement.
Since the strike coincides with the month-end, salary withdrawals from branches are likely to get affected. Some ATMs went dry by the evening. Operations like deposits, FD renewals, government treasury operations, money market operations have been hit by the strike. A RBI official said some digital banking work was done through electronic systems like the RTGS but the functioning of banks' servers was hit. Digital banking comprises about 5 per cent of the total operations, the official said.
Reserve Bank of India remained operational though the trade unions offered moral support for the ongoing strike, a RBI Trade Union leader said. Reports from Maharashtra said nearly 60,000 sectoral employees in the state struck work as part of the strike. Bank employees are on strike to demand an adequate wage revision to all employees and officers," United Forum of Bank Unions convener (Maharashtra) Devidas Tuljapurkar said.
