Bank Holidays 2022: Banks to remain shut for 15 days in April

New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India determines bank holidays each month, releasing a month-by-month schedule of such days off for private and public lenders at the start of the year. According to the list, all commercial and public sector banks will have 15 bank holidays in April 2022. This is due to the fact that April is jam-packed with festivities, including Assam's Bihu and West Bengal's Bengali New Year.

Not only that, but the month of April will also see a long weekend, with banks in some areas of India closing for as many as four days on account of Ambedkar Jayanti, Good Friday, Bohag Bihu, and a weekend leave. The April bank holidays include the annual shutting of bank accounts on April 1, which is reserved for bank staff every year.

Banks are open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, but will be closed on April 16 in some regions of the country due to Bohag Bihu, which falls on the third Saturday. The number of holidays has been set at nine this month, according to the RBI's bank holiday list announced this year. The remaining six bank holidays are weekend offs, with four Sundays and two Saturdays staying closed. The holidays listed by the central bank are divided into three categories: state-wide festivities, religious holidays, and festival celebrations.

One should also note that the Reserve Bank places bank holidays under three separate brackets. These are — ‘Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act’, ‘Holiday under Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holiday’ and ‘Banks’ Closing of Accounts’. On the notified bank holidays set by the RBI, all branches of lenders across the public sector, private sector, foreign banks, cooperative banks and regional banks remain closed.

These bank holidays are also classified into two categories: national and regional. While all lenders across India stay closed on national bank holidays, only branches in the respective districts remain closed during regional bank holidays.

It's also worth noting that bank holidays in April 2022 don't include the national holiday, but most banks will be closed on April 1 and 14. To do so, always verify with your local branch for the bank holidays in the month in question.

List of Bank Holidays in April: 

April 1: Yearly Closing of Bank Account — All over India except Aizawl, Chandigarh, Shillong, and Shimla.

April 2: Gudi Padwa/Ugadi Festival/1st Navratra/Telugu New Year’s Day/Sajibu Nongmapanba (Cheiraoba) — Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Manipur, Jammu, Goa, and Jammu & Kashmir

April 4: Sarhul — Jharkhand

April 5: Babu Jagjivan Ram’s Birthday- Telangana

April 14: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti/Mahavir Jayanti/Baisakhi/Vaisakhi/Tamil New Year’s Day/Cheiraoba/Biju Festival/Bohag Bihu — All over India except Meghlaya and Himachal Pradesh

April 15: Good Friday/Bengali New Year’s Day (Nababarsha)/Himachal Day/Vishu/Bohag Bihu — All over India except Rajasthan, Jammu, and Srinagar

April 16: Bohag Bihu — Assam

April 21: Garia Puja — Tripura

April 29: Shab-I-Qadr/Jumat-ul-Vida — Jammu and Kashmir

Weekend Leaves

April 3: Sunday

April 9: Second Saturday

April 10: Sunday

April 17: Sunday

April 23: Fourth Saturday

April 24: Sunday