With the surge in COVID-19 cases, bank unions demanded a five-day week for banking operations and capping the attendance of the workforce to 50 per cent in Maharashtra till the situation improves.

In a letter to the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC), the United Forum of Bank Unions (Maharashtra State) also urged to consider restricting banking hours till 2 pm.

This will help in reducing the customer interaction time at the branches/ offices and will, therefore, reduce the risk of contamination among the employees of banks and customers, it said.

Bank of Maharashtra is the SLBC convenor in the state.

The forum said the bankers, being in close contact with the public in general, are more prone to the infection, it said.

The forum has also sought to provide booster doses to all eligible bank employees in order to control the rapid spread of infection at this juncture