PANAJI
Banking services across Goa will come to a halt for four consecutive days from January 24 to 27, following a nationwide strike call by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU). The strike on January 27 coincides with the fourth Saturday, Sunday, and Republic Day holidays, effectively closing banks for four days in a row.
Santosh Haldankar, convener of UFBU in Goa, said the agitation is aimed at pressing the demand to declare all Saturdays as holidays for banks, thereby instituting a five day work week. At present, only the second and fourth Saturdays are official holidays.
“We were assured that all Saturdays would be declared holidays, but two years have passed and the matter is still pending,” Haldankar said.
The unions had earlier staged a two day strike in March 2025, but deferred further action after being informed of ongoing discussions. But with no government approval forthcoming, the UFBU has now escalated its protest.
Customers have been advised to plan transactions in advance to avoid inconvenience as digital banking channels will remain functional but branch level services will be unavailable.
Haldankar argued that aligning banks with other financial institutions operating Monday to Friday would not significantly impact customers.
