Govandi

According to the notice served on 1 December, the SBI Govandi Branch will remain shut on all Fridays along with 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. Media reports suggested that branches of certain other banks in the city and some other parts of the country also provide half-day working on Sunday

The public sector State Bank of India’s (SBI) Govandi Branch have changed its weekly off from Sundays to Fridays with effect from 1 December, reported a media house,

A notice to the effect has been put outside branch premises. This move is supposedly intended to facilitate the local minority population living in and around Govandi, a north-eastern suburb.

According to the notice served on 1 December, the SBI Govandi Branch will remain shut on all Fridays along with 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.

The business hours will operate normally from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, stated in the notice, starting from Sunday to Thursday.

There were even other reports apprehensions about the SBI Millenium Branch in Dadar following the suit. The branch officials, however, on 29 November outright dismissed the claims.

Media reports suggested that branches of certain other banks in the city and some other parts of the country also provide half-day working on Sunday. This is compensated by all Saturdays off, considering local people’s convenience.

The Govandi SBI Branch move has elicited strong reactions on social media with objections to the Friday closure to cater to “the demands of the local demographics”, and called for regional coordination for uniformity in the concerned areas.

According to Banking circles, in the digital era, there’s exists very little meaning to weekly offs or public holidays, when most banking functions are conducted online. This is due to the operations that bank continue irrespective of the calendar dates.