State-run banks are going to waive ATM charges to ease the inconvenience to customers during the three-day strike of bank employees from September 28 to 30. State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Union Bank of India (UBI), Indian Bank and several other public sector banks (PSBs) have said that they will not charge customers for ATM withdrawals beyond the free transaction limit set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during these three days.

Under the current RBI rules, savings account customers get the facility of 5 free ATM transactions in a month from their bank’s ATMs. At ATMs of other banks, customers get three free transactions in six metro cities and five in non-metro locations. After the free limit is exhausted, banks can charge an additional GST of up to Rs 23 on each transaction. ATM interchange fee between banks is currently Rs. 19 and for non-financial transactions Rs. 7 is

Two main demands of employees

Despite appeals by the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Indian Banks Association (IBA) and bank management to postpone the strike, the banks are going ahead with their three-day strike. UFBU, backed by regional rural banks (RRBs) and some other unions and associations of public sector banks (PSBs) have announced a strike in support of two key demands – implementation of a five-day banking week and withdrawal of the Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

The government has decided to put the PLI scheme on hold for now. However, the demand for a five-day banking week was not yet accepted, so the UFBU, the main union of bank employees and officers, went on a one-day strike on 11 September. The unions have also announced that they will go on an indefinite strike from October 26 if their demands are not met even after three days of strike.

Banks will open on Sunday

The three-day strike from September 28 to 30, if combined with the preceding weekend, could actually shut down banking services for five days, but the RBI has canceled the Sunday public holiday. In such a situation, all government banks of the country will open on Sunday. Bank unions have also received support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employee unions. All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIRBEA) and All India Reserve Bank Employees Federation (AIRBEF) have announced a strike on September 28. Both these unions have also objected to the RBI’s permission to keep banks open on Sunday, September 27.