As per the reports coming in, this week some of the biggest banks India have decided to trim down on non-essential services — like passbook updates and over-the-counter cheque collection — to encourage their customers to stay at home until March 31.
The country’s largest lender, the State Bank of India (SBI) is also included in the list.
Contents
What About Private Banks?
According to the reports, a few private players like HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank also decided to cut down the number of hours that their doors will be open to just four hours a day.
What Services Will Be Available?
As per the Indian Banks Association (IBA), public sector banks will continue to provide the following four essential services.
Some of the biggest banks in India have decided to trim down on non-essential services this week — like passbook updates and over-the-counter cheque collection — to encourage their customers to stay at home until March 31.
- Cash deposits and withdrawals
- Clearing of cheques
- Remittances
- Government transactions
Further, last week, multiple banks already instructed their offices and branches to reduce their operating staff to at least 50% on March 20.
Also, many are encouraging their staff to take leave if they exhibit any symptoms without any cut in salary.
As banks can’t shut down amid the Coronavirus pandemic since banking is an essential service, these new steps have been taken to help with social distancing in order to limit the spread of the infection.
What Is Bank Opening Time?
A full list of how long each bank in India will be open and what services will be available until March 31 is given below.
State Bank of India
Working hours: So far no changes
Services suspended: Only account opening, passbook printing, cash withdrawals, note exchange, and cash deposits below Rs 1 lakh.
If a customer needs to put in a request for a new ATM card, checkbook, account statement, KYC update or Aadhar linking — they are encouraged to leave their requests in the box outside the branch.
Afterworld, a staff member will get back to them via phone to address the request.
Also, clearing and cheque collection will also occur through the designated box outside the branch.
?HDFC Bank
Working hours: Till March 31 open 10:00am to 2:00pm.
Services suspended: Only Passbook update and foreign currency purchase.
Further, the Cheques will not be accepted over the counter but can be deposited in the designated boxes outside the branch or at an ATM.
?Canara Bank
Working hours: So far no changes
Services suspended: Anything tagged as ‘non-essential’ like passbook printing and note exchange
Human resources instructed Canara Bank to identify critical services to arrive at the minimum staff capacity, in a notice issued late last night.
Also, on any day, no more than 15% of the employees will be present at a given branch, according to the document, seen by Business Insider.
Further, the bank shall continue to handle cash withdrawals and deposits, clearing of cheques, remittances and government transactions.
ICICI Bank
Working hours: Open at 10:00 am to 2:00 pm till Mar 31
Services suspended: So far no changes
Notice issued by ICICI Bank advises to avoid physical handling of cash and use digital channels for payments to reduce the risk of transmission.
Axis Bank
Working hours: So far no changes
Services suspended: So far no changes
Also, the bank has encouraged customers to avail of digital services to avoid having to come down directly to the bank.
IndusInd Bank
Working hours: open at 10:00 am to 2:00 pm till Mar 31
Services suspended: Any services defined as ‘non-essential’ like passbook printing and note exchange
Further, the bank shall continue to handle cash withdrawals and deposits, clearing of cheques, remittances and government transactions.
Punjab National Bank
Working hours: So far no changes.
Services suspended: So far no changes.
Yet, Punjab National Bank (PNB) hasn’t revised the way that it will be operating during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Although, it is encouraging its customers to avail of its online services as much as possible even when applying for a new checkbook.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Working hours: open at 10:00 am to 2:00 pm till Mar 31
Services suspended: So far no changes
Bank of Baroda
Working hours: So far no changes
Services suspended: So far no changes
But, Bank of Baroda (BoB) has decided to waive the transaction fee on digital transactions for the next three months, from March 20 till June 19.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.