Banks told to update transfer policy: Prioritise women employees, avoid mid-year disruptions | Key points

The Union ministry of finance on Tuesday issued guidelines to public sector banks (PSBs) aimed at overhauling their employee transfer policies to enhance transparency and uniformity. In the advisory issued to the heads of the PSBs, the department of financial services asked banks to update their transfer policies with board approval and implement the changes starting from fiscal year 2025-26.

The department also asked the lenders to share a copy of their transfer policy after incorporating the suggested modifications.

"PSBs are also advised to send a copy of the policy, so modified, to this Department, at the earliest," the communication said.

• One of the key suggestions is to automate the transfer process, allowing employees to select location preferences through an online system.

• Women employees, the ministry said, should be prioritised for transfers to nearby locations as much as possible.

• The ministry directed banks to deal with the grievances received from employees regarding the violation of transfer policies in a considerate manner.

• Mid-year transfers should be avoided unless absolutely necessary, such as in cases of promotions or urgent administrative needs, according to the advisory.

• The guidelines also stress completing transfer exercises by June every year to avoid disruptions and recommend keeping officers up to Scale-III within their linguistic regions for seamless customer interactions. "Banks to accommodate officers up to Scale-III in the respective linguistic region in order to ensure seamless customer service to the extent possible, considering various factors including availability of vacancies, administrative exigencies etc," it said.

• For regions marked as “Difficult areas,” the ministry suggested giving priority to transferring employees out once their tenures are complete, acknowledging the challenges of working in such zones.