A photograph of a purported Gazette notification is going viral on social media, claiming that the Central government has declared every Saturday a public holiday for public sector banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI).
The viral document, which is allegedly dated October 1, 2026, appears to carry details suggesting that the Ministry of Finance has issued an official order changing the existing Saturday holiday arrangement for public sector banks. The document has been widely circulated on social media, with users claiming that bank employees will now have all Saturdays off.
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NM VERIFIED
NewsMobile verified the claim and found that it is misleading.
The NM team initiated its verification by running the viral Gazette through a reverse image search. We could not find any credible or official source confirming the document or the alleged decision.
We then conducted a keyword search; the search did not lead to any official notification or credible report announcing that all Saturdays had been declared public holidays for public sector banks.
We also checked the official website of the Ministry of Finance and its available notifications, along with the e-Gazette portal. No notification matching the viral document was found.
Further verification led us to a September 21, 2026, press release issued by the Ministry of Finance. The release, issued amid calls for strikes by bank unions, specifically stated that the second and fourth Saturdays of every month had been declared public holidays for public sector banks in 2015. It also noted that the remaining Saturdays continue to provide an opportunity for citizens to access banking services.
The PIB Fact Check unit also addressed the viral claim and confirmed that the Ministry of Finance had not issued any Gazette declaring every Saturday a holiday for public sector banks. The clarification was subsequently shared by the Ministry of Finance as well.
A Gazette circulating on social media , purportedly issued by the Ministry of Finance (Department of Financial Services), claims that the Central Government has declared every Saturday a public holiday for all Public Sector Banks , including SBI.
#PIBFactCheck:
❌ The document being circulated is #Fake.
✅ No such notification has been issued by @FinMinIndia declaring every Saturday as public holiday for public sector banks.
💡 Flag suspicious content related to the Central Government to PIB Fact Check.
📱 WhatsApp: +91 8799711259
📧 [email protected]— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) October 1, 2026
Hence, it is evident that the viral Gazette claiming that the Central government has declared every Saturday a public holiday for public sector banks, including SBI, is fake.
No such notification has been issued by the Ministry of Finance.
