On February 12th, 2026 bank employee unions announced they will go on strike across India and will be walking out of the public sector to protest. The State Bank of India (SBI), the largest bank in India, has issued an official notice of the strike to customers and other stakeholders of possible service interruption.
What Is the Reason For The Strike?
The strike has been called by major bank employee unions and they will be advocating for a number of issues. The primary issues of concern to the unions are the following:
- Hiring more employees to fill vacancies in order to increase the number of employees working in public sector banks
- Stopping the privatisation of public sector banks
- Establishing a five-day work week in banks
- Decreasing the amount of work each employee has to perform through filling vacancies and hiring more employees.
- Improving service conditions and employee welfare
According to the unions, the lack of staffing and increasing workloads are affecting the quality of service that both customers and employees are receiving.
SBI Official Notice to Customers
SBI has notified the public and the media regarding their awareness of the proposed nationwide strike by the banking employee unions. In their regulatory filing and public notice, SBI stated they will take appropriate steps to mitigate any interruptions that may occur due to the strike but that they cannot guarantee that their service levels will not be impacted by the level of participation of the employees.
The State Bank of India (SBI) has stated that they will coordinate internally to ensure the continuity of critical services, but branch operations, cheque clearances, loan processing, and customer services at physical locations may experience temporary disruptions.
Impacts on Banking Services
If the strike is widespread, customers may experience:
- Limited or no access to retail banking branches.
- Delays in clearing cheques and cash transactions.
- Longer times to process loan applications and account requests.
- Potential disruption to the ‘behind the scenes’ processing of banking transactions.
- Disruption to digital banking services (Internet, Mobile, ATM and UPI transactions) is not expected, as the digital banking services are mostly automated. However, customers are encouraged to conduct any urgent transaction with a retail branch to avoid inconveniences.
Public Sector Banks Will Be Affected
Although the SBI has made the statement that they are coordinating for the strike, other public sector banks would be affected if a large percentage of their unionized employees participate in the strike. Private sector banks may continue to operate normally depending on the participation of their employees and unions in the strike. Prior to this, the level of impact to banking services from national bank strikes has varied depending on the percentage of participation across multiple locations.
Customer Advisory
Banks like the State Bank of India (SBI) are advising customers to prepare for the bank strike by planning banking needs in advance of the strike date – if you need to use the bank for in-person services such as demand drafts, large cash withdrawals, updating accounts or accessing lockers, these transactions should be completed before the strike starts. Banks are also encouraging customers to conduct their routine transactions through digital banking services whenever possible.
Broadly speaking, there have been periodic instances of industrial action in the banking sector in recent years, largely related to privatization, consolidation into fewer banks, understaffing, and working conditions of employees. Unions representing banking employees have stated that enhancing public sector banks is a critical part of providing access to finance for citizens and ensuring economic stability.
The upcoming strike demonstrates that there are still discussions occurring between unions and the government regarding the future structure and working conditions of India’s public banking system.
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What Happens Next?
It will be determined by the extent of participation and any last-minute negotiations between unions, bank management and government representatives. SBI has publicly supported the union’s strike but it is still unclear what the effects of the strike will be on operations on February 12. Customers should continue to check with their banks for official communications in order to ensure that they plan their banking transactions accordingly.
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