The working hours of all the public sector banks in Odisha are now from 10 am to 4 pm from October 1.
This was stated by UCO Bank MD and CEO Atul Kumar Goel after a State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting here on Monday. The bankers’ panel has approved uniform business hours for the public sector banks.
“We have also requested the private banks to formulate their working hours accordingly,” he said, adding that the move is aimed at removing the discrepancies in the operational timings of various public-sector banks.
“At present, there is confusion among customers regarding the business hours of banks. In order to resolve this, the public-sector banks will remain open from 10 am to 4 pm,” Goel said.
Attending the 156th SLBC meeting, Union Finance Ministry Additional Secretary Debashis Panda asked the banks to give priority to credit disbursement in the tourism, handicraft and handloom sectors which have been hit by Cyclone Fani in the State.
He also said that there is a need to open more bank branches in the State. Odisha Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra suggested to the banks to organise more loan melas in block level. Goel said the banks have provided Rs 5,853 crore of loans to 1,23,090 beneficiaries in the post-Fani period. State Finance Secretary AK Meena said the financial inclusion in the State is not complete due to less number of bank branches and inaccessibility of certain areas.