Holi 2024 Bank Holiday: Are Banks Closed From March 23-25? Check City-Wise Details!

Bank Holiday: Indian banks are in for a long weekend, thanks to the special holiday on Monday due to the celebration of the auspicious festival Holi. That being said, banks are closed from March 23 to 25th. However, it needs to be noted that banks are not closed on March 25th across cities of India. There are certain cities, where banks will be working on the festival which is just around the corner.

Bank Holiday, March 23:

Banks will be closed on March 23 due to the day being the fourth Saturday.

Generally, banks are open on the first and third Saturdays of every month, while they are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays.

In March month, there are five Saturdays, and March 23rd counts as the fourth one. Hence, banks are indeed closed on March 23.

Bank Holiday, March 24:

Sundays are by default declared as holidays for banks and government offices. Hence, banks will be closed on March 24th as well.

Holi 2024 Bank Holiday On March 25:

India will be celebrating one of the popular and significant Hindu festivals, Holi on March 25. The day will be filled with vibrant varieties of colours across the streets of India.

During the Holi festival, Indians celebrate the divine love between deities Radha and Krishna, while the occasion is also seen as a victory of good over evil as lord Vishnu defeats Hiranyakashipu in his avatar as Narasimha.

On March 25, the majority of banks will be closed across India. However, as per RBI, few cities will not have this public holiday.

As per RBI's data, bank holidays on March 25th are in the cities like Agartala, Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Belapur, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Gangtok, Guwahati, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, and Shimla.

Banks will be opened in cities like Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Imphal, Kohima, Kochi, Patna, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram on March 25.

Notably, some cities will celebrate Holi on March 26th instead of March 25th. So banks will be closed in Bhubaneswar, Imphal, and Patna on March 26th.

Bank holidays are decided by RBI, however, they vary from city to city. The holidays are categorised into three categories such as --- Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act; Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act and Real Time Gross Settlement Holidays; and Banks' Closing of Accounts.

India is a multi-cultural and very diverse country and also has many national and other bank holidays. A bank holiday in India is generally considered a public holiday when banks and other financial institutions remain closed. Not all public holidays are classified as Bank Holidays as they vary with state and region.

Some of these holidays are very local and hence are decided by the respective state governments. On the other hand, some of them are very mandatory and it is not a prerogative of anybody as these are already the national holidays in India. Common holidays which the central government decide would be Good Friday, Christmas, and Diwali among others.

Despite the closure of banks, online banking services will continue to operate to this day. During a Bank Holiday, most financial institutions like nationalized banks, public and private sector banks, financial institutions, stock exchanges, brokerage firms, and investment banking firms will remain closed.