As the financial year 2018-19 comes to an end, state-run banks have been directed to remain open on the last day of the month.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised that "all Pay and Account Offices will remain open on March 31, 2019 (Sunday) to facilitate government receipt and payment transactions", the central bank said in a notification dated March 26.
This, however, is applicable to bank branches dealing with government business, according to the RBI.
March 31 marks the last day of the current financial year.
The next financial year, that is 2019-20, will begin on April 1.
Here are 10 things to know:All agency banks, the RBI noted, are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on Sunday, March 31."Banks shall give due publicity about availability of above banking services on this day," the central bank mentioned in its March 26 statement.In a separate communication dated March 29, the RBI further said that the government has desired that all government transactions done by agency banks for financial year 2018-19 must be accounted for within the same financial year.The central bank also said that necessary arrangements have been made to conduct special clearing operations across the country on March 31.Sharing the details of the timings of such institutions during the weekend, the central bank said that RBI offices as well as the designated branches of agency banks "will keep their counters open up to 8.00 p.m.
on March 30, 2019 and up to 6.00 p.m.
on March 31"."With a view to providing greater convenience to tax payers, as in previous years, it has been decided that RBI offices and all designated branches of agency banks conducting government banking business will keep their counters open," it said.Electronic transactions will also be done till the stipulated time on both the days, according to the RBI's statement on Friday.Centralised payment systems such as RTGS (Real-time gross settlement) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) will also be operational with extended business hours.As far as April 1, 2019 is concerned,it has been declared as a holiday to enable the banks to close their yearly accounts.
"However, RBI offices will work on that day," it said.Centralised payment systems such as RTGS and NEFT, however, will not be operational on April 1, the RBI added.Get the latest election news, live updates and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on TheIndianSubcontinent.com/elections.
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