New Delhi: A Gazette notification circulating on social media claiming that the Centre has declared every Saturday a public holiday for public sector banks is fake, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check Unit said on Thursday.
The purported notification, dated September 30, 2026, carries the number S.O. 4275(E) and appears to have been issued by the Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services.
It claims that all Saturdays have been declared public holidays for public sector banks, including State Bank of India, under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
The document also carries an official-looking file number and the name of a purported joint secretary.
Five-Day Banking Demand Remains Unresolved
The PIB Fact Check Unit said the Finance Ministry had not issued any notification declaring every Saturday a public holiday for public sector banks. It advised people to verify suspicious government-related claims through authoritative sources.
Under the existing arrangement, the second and fourth Saturdays of each month are public holidays for public sector banks. The government introduced the arrangement in 2015 under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The remaining Saturdays continue to be working days.
The fake notification has surfaced amid the continuing demand by bank employee unions for a five-day banking week.
The Finance Ministry said on September 21 that five-day banking was one of the principal demands of bank unions. The government said it had held several rounds of discussions with the unions on the outstanding issue.
According to the government statement, bank unions had observed a one-day strike on September 11 and had announced a three-day strike from September 28 to 30. The unions had also proposed an indefinite strike from October 26 over the five-day workweek demand.
The government has said the issue should be resolved through dialogue while emphasising the need for uninterrupted banking services.
The Centre had earlier declared the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays for public sector banks in 2015. The proposal to make all Saturdays holidays has therefore not been implemented through the purported September 30 Gazette notification.
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