Bank strike in September 2019: SBI warns customers, says it might be impacted

Bank strike in September 2019: A bank holiday can mean a lot of trouble for account holders. Customers are left with no other option but for the bank to open to complete their transactions. So, imagine the kind of inconvenience a two-day bank strike could cause. And, this is exactly the situation you may face soon. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) announced that the All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA), Indian National Bank Officers' Congress (INBOC) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) has given a call for a pan-India strike by bank employees on September 26 and 27, 2019.

This means that customers are set to find banks closed over these two days. The largest public sector bank, SBI has even warned its customers that they might face some trouble during these two days, if the  two-day strike planned by the officers' unions materialises. In a regulatory filing on September 16, the State Bank of India admitted that it might be impacted to some extent due to the strike, which has been announced to protest against the recently-announced mega-merger of 10 state-run banks into four.

"While bank has made all arrangements to ensure normal functioning in its branches and offices, it is likely that work in our bank may be impacted to some extent by the strike," SBI said in a regulatory filing.

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The government on August 30 announced its mega consolidation plan to bring down the total number of PSBs to 12 from 19 in 2017 in a bid to make them global-sized banks. According to this plan, United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce are to be merged with Punjab National Bank, making the proposed entity the second largest public sector bank (PSB).

The plan also proposed to merge Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will be merged with Indian Bank. Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will amalgamate with the Union Bank of India. Earlier this year, Bank of Baroda merged Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with itself to become the second largest public sector lender.

SBI had merged five of its associate banks - State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Hyderabad and also Bhartiya Mahila effective April 2017.