Here is everything you need to know about the bank holiday today for Gudhi Padwa, Ugadi Festival, Telugu New Year, Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba), and 1st Navratra.
Bank holiday today, 19 March
All public and private banks in will be closed today in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Srinagar, including SBI, PNB, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and more. This is because of several festivals including Gudhi Padwa, Ugadi Festival, Telugu New Year, Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba), and 1st Navratra. All these festivals are a public holiday in the regions where banks will be closed.
When are banks typically closed?
The RBI categorises all bank holidays into three parts, namely, Negotiable Instruments Act, Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) holidays and banks’ closing of accounts.
Bank holidays vary from region to region depending upon the festivals and observances there. However, all banks observe holidays on national holidays like Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti.
For example, Gudhi Padwa is a bank holiday in Maharashtra but there is no bank holiday in Kolkata. Similarly, Saraswati Puja is a bank holiday in Kolkata but there is no bank holiday on this day in Delhi.
Apart from the regional and national holidays, banks across India remain closed on all Sundays, and the second and fourth Saturdays, as per RBI norms. Banks remain open on first, third and fifth Saturdays of all months.
Remaining bank holidays in March
- March 20 – Bank holiday in Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Srinagar, and Andhra Pradesh due to Eid-Ul-Fitr (Ramzan) and Jumat-ul-Vida.
- March 21 – Banks will remain closed in Assam, Gujarat, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland, West Bengal, Delhi, Goa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, and Srinagar to celebrate Ramzan-Id (Id-Ul-Fitr), Khutub-E-Ramzan, and Sarhul.
- March 26 – There is a bank holiday in Mizoram, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Nagpur, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh for Shree Ram Navami.
Apart from these, banks will be closed on Sundays and the fourth Saturday according to the RBI bank holiday rules.
Will I be able to access online banking on bank holiday?
If you are in urgent need to withdraw cash or send money on a bank holiday, you need not be worried. ATM services work 24×7, despite bank holidays, if you need to withdraw cash, get a statement or any other requirement. To send money on a bank holiday, online banking services like NEFT, IMPS and RTGS are available.
Apart from this, you can use UPI services on bank holidays to send and receive money as they are functional even on these days. Bank holidays only see suspension of banking operations that require a physical visit to the branch, like encashing a cheque.
