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3 clusters · 11 sources · 23 days · First seen · Last updated

Indian bank holiday schedules and misinformation

Overview

In early October 2026, the Indian Ministry of Finance and the Press Information Bureau debunked a viral social media document claiming the central government had declared every Saturday a public holiday for all public sector banks. Officials confirmed the circulating Gazette was fake, noting that under Reserve Bank of India regulations, banks only close on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Additionally, banks across India observed a national holiday on October 2 for Gandhi Jayanti.

As the month progressed, scheduled closures were observed due to religious festivals and standard weekend rotations. In mid-October, banks in Tripura observed a holiday on October 17 for Maha Saptami, while most other regions remained open for the third Saturday.

Extensive regional closures followed between October 19 and October 21 for festivals including Maha Ashtami, Durga Puja, Mahanavami, Ayudha Puja, Vijayadashami, and Dussehra. Affected states included Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

Following these festivities, all public, private, rural, and cooperative bank branches across India were closed on October 24 for the scheduled fourth Saturday holiday. With Sunday, October 25, also being a weekly holiday, physical branches remained closed until Monday. Throughout these periods, while physical branches were closed for services such as KYC updates, locker access, and check clearances, digital services including UPI, mobile banking, internet banking, and ATMs remained operational.

Entities

Reserve Bank of India · State Bank of India · Mahatma Gandhi · Ministry of Finance · Tripura

Timeline

  1. [BUSINESS] 4 sources
    Banks in India closed for fourth Saturday holiday

    Bank branches across India are closed on October 24 for the fourth Saturday holiday, with branches remaining closed through Sunday. Digital banking and ATM services remain fully operational.

  2. [BUSINESS] 6 sources
    Banks in India to observe multiple holidays in October 2026

    Banks across India face multiple closures in October 2026 due to festivals like Durga Puja and Dussehra, though digital banking services will remain active.

  3. [BUSINESS] 5 sources
    India Ministry of Finance debunks fake bank holiday notification

    The PIB has debunked fake news claiming all Saturdays are now bank holidays in India. Current RBI rules maintain closures only on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.

Sources

agniban.com · bengali.news18.com · enavabharat.com · hindi.asianetnews.com · hindi.latestly.com · hindi.news18.com · latestly.com · news18.com · samacharnama.com · sanjeevnitoday.com · thecsrjournal.in

This summary has been updated 2 times: see revision history