Bank employees participating in the all-India strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions in Sangareddy on Tuesday. | Photo credit: MOHD. ARIF
Customers of public sector banks (PSBs) were hit the hardest on Tuesday as thousands of PSB employees and officials across Telangana went on a one-day all-India strike called by the United Forum of Banking Unions (UFBU).
Even when branches were open, customers faced difficulties in trading as staff, with the exception of a few at higher supervisory levels, were part of the UFBU strike demanding the introduction of a five-day working week. While the use and popularity of alternative channels such as ATMs and Internet banking continues to grow, branch-level banking remains important to many customers. It includes check deposits, cash deposits and withdrawals, as well as searching for information on various products, especially loans.
Veteran Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) leader P. Venkataramaiah said the strike was total and apart from PSB employees, a large number of regional rural bank employees also participated. BEFI is one of the nine unions that make up the UFBU.
Hyderabad and several cities saw bank employees rally on strike and call on the government to introduce a five-day work week as it has been several years since the Indian Banks Association agreed to the UFBU’s demand to declare all Saturdays of the month as holidays. Currently, banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays.
For customers, the strike meant no access to services at the branch level for four days as banks were closed on January 24 for Fourth Saturday, January 25 was a Sunday and January 26 was Republic Day.
Published – 27 Jan 2026 21:32 IST
