The three-day break from June 26 to 28 has the potential to interfere with last-mile business for small enterprises and investors alike. A number of RBI banking centres are marking a Friday off for Muharram, and then you have the fourth Saturday and Sunday on top of that. If you need to be in a branch for some compliance or to sign papers, it’s time to reschedule those time-sensitive items.
Why this matters for money managers and MSMEs
Any process that requires you at the counter – be it for cashflow, putting up collateral or physical KYC – will have to wait. The digital side of things will chug along, but anything needing an in-person stamp of approval is on hold until we’re back in the office.
If you want to sidestep any hiccups, put your branch-only to-do list first before Friday:
– Get new accounts with in-person checks opened
– Put down your new signature with the bank
– Wind up any savings or current accounts
– Turn in a new passbook if you have to
– Hand over original loan files
Friday closures: who is affected and where
You can check the RBI holiday calendar to see that banks in a good part of the country will be off on June 26 for Muharram. We’re talking about states and union territories such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, UP, West Bengal, Delhi, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram.
RBI’s numbers show some key cities will be out of commission on Friday: Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Raipur, Ranchi, Patna, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Jammu, Srinagar, Agartala, Aizawl and Vijayawada. Then there are places like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Panaji, Dehradun and Guwahati which are fine to go to on the 26th.
All in all, 18 RBI banking centres will be closed on the 26th. It makes a difference when you’re trying to get a payment or document through a particular hub.
Weekend rules extend the outage
After the Muharram day off, you won’t be able to do much on June 27 either since it’s the fourth Saturday – a no-go for every scheduled and non-scheduled bank. And don’t count on them being open on the 28th for the weekly Sunday lull.
It’s policy in India for all banks to take the second and fourth Saturdays off. So for a lot of our customers, what was a regional Friday closure becomes a three-day run.
City-level nuances and the June calendar
For the most part, everyone is back in action after the weekend. There is one oddity though: Aizawl and Shimla have an extra day off on the 29th. Everywhere else on the list is open.
June is a bit of a patchwork of holidays on the RBI calendar, with YMA Day, Raja Sankranti, Sant Guru Kabir Jayanti, Remna Ni and more depending on where you are. With so many observances bunched up, you have to be a little more deliberate with your schedule as the month winds down.
Here are a few things to keep in mind for your planning:
– 18 centres are out on Friday
– The rest of the country is off for the fourth Saturday and Sunday
– Aizawl and Shimla are a no on the 29th
How to manage the next five days
Where you can, line up your big payments or mandate changes for the open windows. Have to get something verified in person? Do it early to beat the Friday-to-Sunday quiet. Otherwise, let UPI, ATMs and your phone do the heavy lifting.
We’d suggest you have a look at the RBI’s city-wise list and plan your branch trip so you don’t end up with any headaches. For an investor or an MSME, a little forethought now is the best way to avoid any settlement issues at quarter-end.
