Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked all agency banks handling government transactions to ensure that their branches remain open on March 31, 2024. This decision comes as the last day of the current financial year (2023-24) falls on a Sunday.
Why did RBI ask banks to remain open on Sunday?
It is pertinent to mention that banks are typically closed on all Sundays and on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month. However, the RBI in a statement said, said "The Government of India has made a request to keep all branches of the banks dealing with Government receipts and payments open for transactions on March 31, 2024 (Sunday) so as to account for all the Government transactions relating to receipts and payments in the FY 2023-24 itself."
Accordingly, Agency Banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday), it said.
The RBI further said that the banks shall give due publicity on the availability of the above banking services on this day.
What are Agency banks?
Agency banks refer to commercial banks that are authorized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as agents for the government and perform various banking activities on behalf of the government. These banks play a crucial role in facilitating government transactions and services across the country. Some of the key functions performed by agency banks in India include collection of taxes and disbursement of government payments among others.
List of Agency banks
-
Scheduled Public Sector banks (post amalgamation)
- Bank of Baroda
- Bank of India
- Bank of Maharashtra
- Canara Bank
- Central Bank of India
- Indian Bank
- Indian Overseas Bank
- Punjab and Sind Bank
- Punjab National Bank
- State Bank of India
- UCO Bank
- Union Bank of India
-
Scheduled Private Sector Banks
- Axis Bank Ltd.
- City Union Bank Ltd.
- DCB Bank Ltd
- Federal Bank Ltd.
- HDFC Bank Ltd.
- ICICI Bank Ltd.
- IDBI Bank Ltd.
- IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd
- IndusInd Bank Ltd
- Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. (Approved for limited agency business)
- Karnataka Bank Ltd.
- Karur Vysya Bank Ltd.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
- RBL Bank Ltd
- South Indian Bank Ltd.
- Yes Bank Ltd.
- Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd.
- Bandhan Bank Ltd.
- CSB Bank Ltd.
- Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd.
-
Foreign Banks
- DBS Bank India Limited (Scheduled foreign bank issued license by RBI for carrying on banking business in India through Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) mode.)
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