Banks asked to curb work hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Faced with the unabated rise in COVID-19 infections as the second wave, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has advised the banks to restrict working hours between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

IBA, in a recent letter to State Level Banking Committee (SLBC) convenors, stated, “We are going through the challenging period of resurgence of the mutant virus with several states reporting record high daily numbers of new infections and there are serious concerns about the economic activities.”

“Unlike last year the states are now issuing their guidelines for breaking the chain of COVID-19 depending on gravity of the local situation, banks may have to follow different COVID protocols in different states and districts,” it added.

According to the letter, banks will continue to provide four mandatory services of accepting deposits, cash withdrawals, remittance and government businesses. The SLBCs of each state and union territory will review the situation in their respective locations and decide on additional services that can be provided under existing situation.

“Employees may be called on rotational basis or be allowed to work from home as the case may be depending on the nature of job, staff position and size of the establishment, ideally 50% of the employees may be called for ‘in person’ duty and on rotation basis,” it further added.