The Finance Ministry has directed that salaries, wages and pensions of all Central Government employees for September 2026 be drawn and disbursed on 25 September 2026, ahead of a proposed three-day nationwide bank strike from 28 to 30 September.
The instruction was issued through an office memorandum from the Controller General of Accounts under the Finance Ministry. It states that “the Government has decided that the salary/wages/pensions of all Central Government Employees for the month of September 2026 may be drawn and disbursed by the Central Government offices (including Defence, Posts & Telecommunications) on September 25 2026 (Friday).”
The wages of industrial employees of the Central Government may also be disbursed in advance on 25 September, and pensions for September 2026 for all Central Government pensioners may be paid on the same date by banks or Pay and Accounts Offices.
The memorandum notes that the payments so disbursed are to be treated as advance payments, subject to adjustment against the full month’s salary or pension once each employee’s or pensioner’s dues are finally determined. Any adjustment will be made without exception from the October 2026 salary or wages.
As the strike period coincides with the closing days of the current quarter, the memorandum said payments and other banking transactions scheduled towards the end of September 2026 may also be processed in advance wherever feasible, to avoid delays and disruptions. The Reserve Bank of India has been asked to communicate the instructions to the paying branches of banks.
The strike has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella body of nine bank employee and officer associations, which says it represents around 90% of the banking workforce. UFBU is pressing for the implementation of a five-day banking week that it says was agreed as part of the March 2024 wage settlement. Talks with the Department of Financial Services and the Indian Banks’ Association at a conciliation meeting on 22 September did not resolve the dispute.
“Today we had a conciliation meeting. Our main demand is introduction of five days banking per week. They did not agree, so we are going ahead with our strike call,” said C H Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association.
The three-day strike, combined with the intervening weekend, could effectively disrupt branch banking services for up to five consecutive days. UFBU has also announced an indefinite strike from 26 October 2026 if the five-day banking week demand remains unresolved. TPB has previously tracked ongoing shifts in India’s payroll and social-security architecture under the new Labour Codes and recent EPFO changes affecting salary disbursement and coverage.
