The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has set up a high-level committee with representatives of bank unions to discuss the implementation of a five-day banking week.

The move follows a meeting between the IBA negotiating committee and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on 27 September. 

The panel, to be chaired by Bank of India MD and CEO Rajneesh Karnatak, will have representatives from both bank management and employee unions.

Punjab National Bank MD and CEO Ashok Chandra will serve as alternate chairman. 

Other IBA representatives on the panel include Indian Bank MD and CEO Binod Kumar; IDBI Bank MD and CEO Rakesh Sharma; and State Bank of India deputy MD (HR & CDO) G S Rana.

The UFBU will be represented by the general secretaries of its seven constituent unions—C H Venkatachalam of the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), Rupam Roy of the All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), L Chandrasekhar of the National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), Sanjay Khan of the All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA), Debasish B Choudhary of the Bank Employees’ Federation of India (BEFI), Prem Makkar of the Indian National Bank Officers’ Congress (INBOC), and O P Sharma of the Indian National Bank Employees’ Federation (INBEF).

Vinod Nikam, general secretary of the Bank Karmachari Sena Mahasangh (BKSM), will be an invitee to the committee.

The committee is constituted after the UFBU deferred its three-day strike beginning 28 September, following discussions with the IBA. The panel will work towards finding a solution on a five-day working week for banks.

The five-day banking week proposal was incorporated into the final 12th bipartite settlement and 9th joint note signed between the IBA and bank unions on 8 March 2024.

The agreement had recommended declaring all Saturdays as holidays, with working hours on the remaining weekdays increased to compensate for the additional holidays. The proposal was subsequently sent to the government for approval.