Are Banks Shut Every Saturday? PIB Calls Viral Gazette Fake as 5-Day Banking Talks Begin

PIB Fact Check said on 1 October 2026 that a viral “gazette notification” declaring every Saturday a holiday for public sector banks is fake. Banks are open today, Saturday 3 October, and the rule from 2015 still applies: the second and fourth Saturday of each month are holidays, and the other Saturdays are working days.

Separately, the committee set up to examine 5-day banking held its first meeting on Thursday, 1 October. That talk has not produced any decision yet, and no government notification on Saturdays has been issued.

What the fake gazette claimed

The document, shared widely on WhatsApp and social media, was made to look like a notification from the Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services. PIB Fact Check’s post on 1 October described it as a gazette that “claims that the Central Government has declared every Saturday a public holiday for all Public Sector Banks, including SBI”. Business Standard noted that the document invokes Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the law under which bank holidays are notified, which helped it look official.

PIB’s answer was that no such notification has been issued by the Union Finance Ministry, as reported by News On AIR. PIB also asked people to verify such documents with official sources before forwarding them.

Which Saturdays banks are open in October 2026

Ramesh runs a kirana store in Nagpur and deposits about ₹48,000 of weekly cash takings at his bank branch every Saturday. Under the current rule, his October looks like this.

State holidays in RBI’s holiday list can still close branches on a working Saturday in some cities, so check your state’s list before a large deposit. Cash deposit machines accept deposits on bank holidays, within the limits in our guide to bank cash deposit rules.

Where the 5-day banking talks stand

Bank unions have been asking for all Saturdays to be holidays. After the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) reached an understanding on 27 September, the unions deferred the strike planned for 28 to 30 September. We covered that in our report on the deferred September bank strike.

A 12-member high-level committee was formed on 29 September. According to India Today’s report on the UFBU’s circular of 1 October, the committee met on Thursday afternoon, after a postponement from 30 September. The unions asked for a full-day physical meeting, and the UFBU says the committee “has agreed to hold such a meeting shortly”. India Today states plainly that the committee’s formation “does not mean that five-day banking has been approved”.

How did the 2015 Saturday rule come about?

The current arrangement came from a central government notification under Section 25 of the NI Act. RBI’s press release of 28 August 2015 said all banks, “public, private, foreign, cooperative, regional rural and local area banks – will observe public holiday on second and fourth Saturdays from September 01, 2015; and will observe full working days on Saturdays other than second and fourth Saturdays”.

That history shows what a real change would look like: a notification published in the Gazette and followed by an RBI announcement. A forwarded PDF with no matching notice on the RBI or Finance Ministry websites does not change bank timings.

Does any of this affect UPI and online transfers?

No. UPI, IMPS, NEFT and RTGS run every day, including bank holidays, so Ramesh’s supplier payments and any UPI collections are unaffected by closed branches. Our comparison of NEFT, IMPS and RTGS explains the limits of each. What a closed Saturday changes is branch work: cash deposits over the counter, demand drafts, locker visits and cheque deposits that need a branch.

Several questions about 5-day banking have no answer yet. Nobody outside the committee knows when the full-day meeting will be held, what the unions and the IBA would trade to settle it, or whether the government will agree. If the committee reaches an agreement, the 2015 sequence suggests a Gazette notification and an RBI announcement would follow before anything changes at branches, which means customers would get notice.

Until such a notification appears, Ramesh can keep going to his branch on the first, third and fifth Saturday.

FAQs

Is the bank open on Saturday, 3 October 2026?

Yes. It is the first Saturday of the month, a working day for banks, unless your state has a separate holiday that day.

Has 5-day banking been approved?

No. A committee of the IBA and bank unions is still discussing it, and no government notification has been issued.

How can I check whether a bank holiday notice is real?

Look for the same notice on rbi.org.in, the Finance Ministry’s website or in a PIB release. PIB Fact Check also posts on X when it finds a fake.

Disclaimer: This article reports developments as of 3 October 2026. Check your bank’s own holiday list before planning a branch visit.