Bank Holiday: All over the world, citizens and offices will be celebrating December 31st, the last date of the current year 2024, and welcome new year 2025 at the same time. Some countries have December 31st as a national holiday, while in India, it is a public holiday and varies from state to state. That being said, are banks open or closed on Tuesday, December 31?
Bank Holiday On December 31?
As per RBI's holiday list, December 31 is a holiday for banks in the cities of Aizawl and Gangtok due to New Year's Eve/Lossong/Namsoong. Banks in other cities will most likely be in operation.
However, banks in cities of the state where December 31st is declared a public holiday will also be closed. Some of the states that have declared December 31 as a public holiday are - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
It needs to be noted that December 31st is not a national holiday which is a compulsory holiday for everyone including schools, private corporates, government offices, and all scheduled commercial banks among others. Meanwhile, being identified as a public holiday by many states, it becomes a state-level holiday and accordingly, banks, companies, and other services are closed.
In 2024, bank holidays in India, vary from state to state and city to city. Since the country is diverse, bank holidays here also have varieties, where many religions, festivals, special occasions and nationalistic days are celebrated, honoured and tributed.
Moreover, 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.
It is RBI that decides bank holidays in India every month and yearly. RBI's holiday list is divided into two categories for December 2024, namely Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act; and Banks' Closing of Accounts.
New Year's Eve:
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, 31 December. In many countries, New Year's Eve is often celebrated with dancing, eating, drinking, and watching or lighting fireworks. Some Christians attend a watch night service. The celebrations generally go on past midnight into New Year's Day, The First of January, as per Wikipedia.