Customer facing branch banking services were impacted across Hyderabad on Friday (September 11, 2026) as thousands of employees and officers across public sector banks participated in the one-day nationwide strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU).

Most of the branches were shuttered while those that opened were manned by the incharge with illumination at the facility kept to the minimum even as customer footfalls were scarce. Ahead of the strike, the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) urged customers to make use of the digital channels.

Employees of different banks protest near SBI Bank Complex on Bank Street in Koti, Hyderabad, on Friday (September 11 2026)

NAGARA GOPAL

Branch banking operations are expected to resume on Tuesday (September 15, 2026), with the strike followed by the weekend and the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday. Employees of some of the old generation private banks and regional rural banks were also part of the strike. Less than 5% of the staff in Telangana Grameena Bank were not part of the protest, a source in the RRB said. Private banks remained open.

The demands

As part of the strike, a large number of bank staff participated in a demonstration programme on Bank Street in Koti and raised slogans in support of their demand for implementation of the five-day week. The unions have been urging the government to implement what bank management and the workforce agreed several years ago — banks will remain closed on all Saturdays. At present, banks are closed, besides Sundays, on the second and fourth Saturdays. To compensate for the loss of working days, it has been agreed that branches will work for an additional 40 minutes every working day.

The strike on Friday (September 11, 2026) was also against implementation of a production linked incentive scheme. Earlier this week, the government said it has decided to keep in abeyance the implementation of the PLI scheme.

Citing reports from various States, All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam said in a statement that the strike has been a total success with employees and officers enthusiastically joining the strike. Banking services were affected in a big way, including clearance of cheques.

A branch of State Bank of India in Sangareddy, Telangana, as employees of various banks are on strike on Friday (September 11, 2026)

MOHD ARIF

Besides AIBEA, the UFBU consists of All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC); National Confederation Of Bank Employees (NCBE); All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA); Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI); Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC) and Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF).

The National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and the National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO) previously used to be part of the UFBU.

Three-day bank strike proposed

The one-day strike is the beginning with UBFU planning a three-day bank strike from September 28-30 that will translate into no branch banking over five days from the preceding weekend (fourth Saturday and Sunday). It also plans to launch an indefinite strike from October 26, 2026.