With a view to providing greater convenience to tax payers, it has been decided that all designated branches of agency banks and RBI Offices conducting government business will keep their counters open for extended hours on Saturday, March 29, and Monday, March 31, 2014 till 8.00 p.m. This arrangement will apply where March 31, 2014, has not been declared as a public holiday. On Sunday, March 30, 2014, and on Monday, March 31, 2014 (at places where holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act has been declared), agency banks would keep select branches open for transacting government business at locations identified by them based on volume of transactions.

Facility of electronic transactions would, however, continue till midnight on March 31, 2014.

In order to facilitate government receipts, necessary arrangements have also been made to conduct special clearing operations across the country. Centralised payment systems, such as, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) will also be operational on these three days (from March 29, 2014, to March 31, 2014).

 

Alpana Killawala

Principal Chief General Manager

Tax payment facilitation: banks and central bank extend hours and electronic systems to ensure government receipts processing. Banks and the central bank directed designated agency bank branches and RBI offices handling government business to keep counters open for extended hours and to operate select branches where holidays applied, while electronic transactions would continue until midnight; special clearing operations and centralised payment systems including RTGS and NEFT were to remain operational to facilitate government receipts over the specified three-day period.