Nationwide Bank Strike Begins
Banks across India are closed today, September 11, 2026, as the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) goes ahead with its planned nationwide strike. The strike is centered around long-pending demands, including the implementation of a five-day banking week, changes to the new Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, and addressing pension-related issues.
Impact on Banking Services
The strike is expected to hit public sector banks the hardest, while private and foreign banks may experience partial disruptions. Branch services such as cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque clearance, and loan processing could be slow or unavailable at affected branches. However, ATMs, UPI, net banking, and mobile banking are expected to continue functioning normally, barring any scheduled maintenance or other service disruptions.
Bank-Specific Advisories
State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India have cautioned their customers that banking operations could be affected due to the strike.
Future Strikes Planned
This is the first in a series of planned strikes. The UFBU has also scheduled further strikes for September 28, 29, and 30, 2026, followed by a continuous strike starting from October 26, 2026, if their demands are not met.
State-Level Impact
In Madhya Pradesh, approximately 7,000 branches halted operations, affecting daily business worth around Rs 5,500 crore. About 42,000 employees and officers from nearly 7,000 branches out of the state's 8,707 joined the strike, according to the Madhya Pradesh Bank Employees Association chairman Mohankrishna Shukla.
Customer Impact
As September 11 is a Friday, followed by the weekend and the Ganesh Chaturthi holiday in some states on September 14, customers in those states could face up to four consecutive days of disruption.