The Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations would have jolted many bankers recovering from Monday morning blues, which seemed worse today, thanks to a four-day weekend.
The move, if implemented, could change the way banks transact business. For starters, the loyal public sector bank customers could be the biggest gainers, with the Pay Commission recommending that government offices should stay closed only on the three national holidays -- Republic Day (January 26), Independence Day (August 15) and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2).
All cheque clearances are expected to be faster and make money available in your accounts earlier than at present.
Banks are not governed by the list of gazette holidays put out by the Centre every year, but instead have to depend on state governments, which have powers under the Negotiable Instruments Act to declare local holidays based on festivals and important regional events. But if the Pay Commission move goes through, states would also have lesser leeway.
While this is good news for bank customers, many of whom, especially small businesses, have to plan in advance to deal with a spate of holidays, banks would be required to put in place a whole set of changes and add infrastructure to keep branches open on more days.
For starters, the public sector needs to get down to some manpower planning, which means that some of the staff is denied a holiday on, say Janmashtami or on Good Friday. This could mean trouble with the unions too, which are welcoming the move for the moment.
Also, bank executives said, minor modifications needed to be made to software systems to make them compatible with the new work schedule.
The biggest operational change is likely to come in the way banks undertake cash management operations. Bankers might not have to rack their brains to decide on the optimum amount of cash that needs to be stacked in their ATMs.
But unlike what happens at present, if the pay panel's recommendations are accepted, overnight call rates might not shoot up before long weekends.
Working days apart, the pay panel's recommendations are also likely to impact the wage negotiations. C H Venkatachalam, the convenor of the United Forum of Bank Unions, made it clear that the report "will be a guiding factor in wage negotiations", though it may not be the benchmark since the job profile at banks is different.
What Banks Need to Do
- The move will expedite all cheque clearances and make money available in your accounts earlier than at present
- The public sector needs to get down to some manpower planning, which means that some of the staff is denied a holiday on festivals
- Minor modifications need to be made to software systems for compatibility with the new work schedule.
