Business hours of banks curtailed

They will work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has said that business hours for the bank branches in the State will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In view of the second wave of COVID-19 and sudden surge in the number of new cases in the State, the SLBC said it was issuing fresh guidelines after due consultation with the stakeholders and the State government, which will be effective from April 26 to 30.

Administrative, zonal, regional offices and back offices and so on where the staff did not have direct contact with the public shall function as per normal working hours, it said in a communication to all member banks in the State.

Staff with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and the visually challenged may be given the option to work from home, it said. Wherever possible, cluster-based functioning of branches in consultation with the local administration shall be adopted, SLBC said.

No Aadhaar enrolment

Aadhaar enrolment centre functions shall be suspended, it said.

Branches that usually attracted large crowd should seek police help for crowd management through the Lead District Manager, SLBC said.

Banks should ensure that all alternative delivery channels such as ATMs/CDM/cash recyclers were functional. Business Correspondents services should be fully functional at all times, it added.

SLBC told banks to focus on vaccination of staff and their family members on priority by co-ordinating with the respective district administration and in adherence to other norms.

Banks are requested to educate and encourage their customers to make use of alternative delivery channels and opt for digital transactions instead of visiting branches physically, it added.