Kolkata: Public sector banks remained open on Sunday to provide an additional day of uninterrupted banking services ahead of the proposed three-day nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions from Monday. The strike, however, was deferred later in the evening. It was 10 years ago during the demonetisation that PSU banks last operated on an emergency basis on a Sunday.Public sector banks and regional rural banks in the state operated with many customers, including the elderly, coming to complete their banking-related matters and other critical transactions prior to the scheduled three-day strike. There are around 10,000 public sector bank branches across the state, an official said.The banks will now open as usual on Monday before having a holiday on Friday on Gandhi Jayanti.Many citizens, including pensioners, lined up in the banks on Sunday to ensure that they could make urgent transactions fearing the three-day strike. Branches of major lenders, including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and other public sector banks, had footfall as on any normal working day throughout the morning, with lines formed outside tellers as customers sought to deposit cash, update passbooks, issue demand drafts and resolve other banking operations to avoid facing the inconvenience of the operational deadlock till Wednesday.At an SBI branch in Salt Lake, some customers said that they had to wait for some time as there was some delay in transaction-related issues. “I had an urgent payment-related matter that needed in-branch clearing before the end of the month. Though there was a little delay, my issue was resolved,” said Pranab Dey, a customer. An SBI official said that all the 1,300-odd branches of the bank in the state remained functional on Sunday.Elderly citizens having pension accounts lined up in many places to draw their pension in advance to avoid facing inconvenience in the middle of the week and make queries as to whether their pension would be credited in time by this weekend. While some expressed relief at having the additional day to conduct high-value branch operations that cannot be handled on online portals or through mobile applications, some said that keeping Sunday open did not help much. “I came in the first hour and queued up, keeping aside other work at home. It will not help if any emergency banking requirement arises in the middle of the week,” said Asim Biswas, a customer visiting an SBI branch.A PNB official confirmed that all public sector banks decided to stay open on Sunday after the strike call was given, including some private sector banks. An official of a PNB bank branch in Salt Lake said that no cheque transactions were conducted on Sunday. “Cheque transactions did not take place as customers who had to withdraw cash did so by writing on the withdrawal slips,” said a PNB official.For clearing of cheques, NPCI, an arm of RBI, was also open on Sunday, said former deputy chief secretary of SBI staff association Ashok Mukherjee.Earlier in the day, officials said digital banking services, UPI and ATMs would remain functional.
