Eid-Ul-Fitr bank holiday 2025: Are banks open today for year-end bank closure?

To facilitate the completion of time-sensitive financial transactions, the RBI has canceled the Eid holiday (Ramzan-Id/Id-Ul-Fitr) for all agency banks handling government-related banking operations. This decision aims to ensure that government payments, tax collections, and year-end financial settlements proceed without disruption.

Originally, March 31, 2025, was declared a public holiday for banks across almost all states, except Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram, in observance of Eid celebrations.

Also read: Eid-Ul-Fitr holiday on March 31, 2025: Are LIC, Income Tax Office, other institutions open on March 29, March 30, and March 31 for financial year-end transactions?


However, the RBI has made special provisions to keep certain bank branches operational to process critical transactions, particularly those related to government receipts and payments. This directive is particularly important for taxpayers, businesses, and financial institutions that need to complete transactions before the fiscal year ends.

According to the RBI notification on March 28, 2025, “Normal clearing timings under Cheque Truncation System (CTS) as applicable to any working “Monday” shall be followed on March 31, 2025. Further, to facilitate accounting of all the Government transactions for the current financial year (2024-25) by March 31, 2025, it has been decided to conduct Special Clearing under CTS exclusively for Government Cheques.”

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RBI special arrangement for cheque clearing

Under normal circumstances, cheque clearing timings follow the standard schedule applicable to any working Monday. However, on March 31, 2025, additional measures were introduced to facilitate government cheque processing.

A dedicated Special Clearing Session under CTS will be held exclusively for Government Cheques, with the following schedule:

Date	Presentation Session	Return Session
31-Mar-25	17:00 Hours to 17:30 Hours	19:00 Hours to 19:30 Hours
(Monday)

The RBI has made it mandatory for all banks to participate in the special clearing operations on March 31, 2025. The directive applies to all agency banks handling government transactions and members of the Cheque Truncation System (CTS).

As per an RBI press release dated March 17, 2025, agency banks dealing with government transactions will remain operational on March 31, 2025. The key highlights of these arrangements include:

All branches handling government receipts and payments will remain open for over-the-counter transactions until regular working hours on March 31, 2025.

Special clearing operations will be conducted for government cheque collections, with necessary instructions issued by the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems (DPSS), RBI.

The reporting window for Central and State Government transactions, including GST, TIN 2.0, ICEGATE, and State e-receipts, will be open until 12:00 noon on April 1, 2025.
Apart from banks, LIC, tax department and IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority) will operate on March 31, 2025.