Tuesday, March 22 2005 12:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Banking operations were hit hard today (Mar 22, 2005) with nine major unions in the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) going on day-long strike protesting against merger and acquisitions and higher FDI, but the private sector banks were largely unaffected.

The strike was called by United Forum of Bank Unions, an umbrella entity of nine major bank unions of officers and clerks, against merger and acquisitions in domestic banks and Government's move to allow higher FDI in private bank upto 74 per cent.

ATM transactions were reportedly unaffected in many parts of the country.

In Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, reports said the strike hit especially branches of public banks.

A source in Delhi who visited several private banks like South Indian Bank, Federal Bank and ING Vysya Bank found many officers and clerks were absent, presumably expressing solidarity to the strike.

However, operations were on in other private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Centurion Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of Punjab, Lord Krishna Bank, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank and Dhanalakshmi Bank.

The operations in foreign banks like Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and Nova Scotia Bank were reportedly not hit.

The striking unions today asked Government to reverse the stand on merger and acquisitions of domestic banks and higher FDI in private banks and laid out an alternative ways, which included further strengthening of private sector banks, nationalisation of all private sector banks and declaration of banks' defaulters as "culprits".