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  4. No bank holiday on March 31? RBI asks THESE lenders to remain open; check list

No bank holiday on March 31? RBI asks THESE lenders to remain open; check list

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Upstox

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3 min read • Updated: March 21, 2024, 1:16 PM

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Summary

As March 31 will be the final day of the ongoing fiscal year 2023-24, the RBI has asked all agency banks to keep their branches open for the public on that date, despite it being a Sunday. The list of agency banks – those authorised to carry out normal business transactions on behalf of the government – includes several public and private lenders.

March 31 is the last date of financial year 2023-24
The list of agency banks includes private lenders such as Axis Bank, City Union Bank, DCB Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Federal Bank, among others.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notification, asking all agency banks to keep their branches open for the public on Sunday, March 31.

Agency banks are those lenders who are authorised by the RBI to complete transactions related to routine banking business on behalf of the government.

While banks are normally closed on weekends, the special arrangement is being made for March 31 as it marks the last date of the ongoing financial year 2023-24. The lenders would be required to settle the transactions before the onset of the new fiscal year from April 1.

What the RBI said in its notification?

“The Government of India has made a request to keep all branches of the banks dealing with government receipts and payments open for transactions on March 31, 2024 (Sunday) so as to account for all the government transactions relating to receipts and payments in the FY2023-24 itself,” stated the RBI notification, issued on March 20.

“Accordingly, agency banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday),” it added, further noting that the lenders are required to “give due publicity” about the availability of above banking services on that day.

Which banks will remain open on March 31? Check list

Here are the public sector lenders, categorised as agency banks, which will remain open on March 31:

  1. Bank of Baroda
  2. Bank of India
  3. Bank of Maharashtra
  4. Canara Bank
  5. Central Bank of India
  6. Indian Bank
  7. Indian Overseas Bank
  8. Punjab and Sind Bank
  9. Punjab National Bank
  10. State Bank of India
  11. UCO Bank
  12. Union Bank of India

Here are the private lenders on the RBI's list of agency banks that will remain open on March 31:

  1. Axis Bank
  2. City Union Bank
  3. DCB Bank
  4. Federal Bank
  5. HDFC Bank
  6. ICICI Bank
  7. IDBI Bank
  8. IDFC FIRST Bank
  9. IndusInd Bank
  10. Jammu and Kashmir Bank
  11. Karnataka Bank
  12. Karur Vysya Bank
  13. Kotak Mahindra Bank
  14. RBL Bank
  15. South Indian Bank
  16. Yes Bank
  17. Dhanlaxmi Bank
  18. Bandhan Bank
  19. CSB Bank
  20. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

While the agency banks will remain open on Sunday, March 31, the forthcoming week will include two bank holidays — on March 25 and March 29 — on account of Holi and Good Friday, respectively.