SBI Branch Timings Affected By COVID-19 Lockdown; ATMs Remain Functional

To maintain social distancing and protect the health of its employees in the current coronavirus pandemic environment, the State Bank of India (SBI) has shortened operation timings at branches and introduced different time slots based in consultation with state governments.

In a PTI report, the public lender's Managing Director (Retail Banking) P K Gupta was quoted saying, "In many states, we have restricted timings of our branch opening. Like in some states, it is 7-10 am, in some states it is 8-11 am and in some 10 am to 2 pm."

Earlier, SBI had requested its customers to use digital services for their banking needs.

The bank has provided masks and sanitisers to its staff attending the office. Customers who need to visit the branches are asked to maintain a distance of at least 1 meter in the queue. Those in the administration department are working on alternate days.

The bank is also running mobile ATM services so that customers can easily take out money without visiting branches.

It has also issued some safety tips on using ATM machines.

Most large banks across the country including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have revised their operating timings and suspended non-essential banking services to reduce footfall in branches. All online banking services are available and customers are requested to use digital modes to meet their banking requirements.