UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Why are bank employees striking despite the PLI pause?
Q1. With reference to the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which called the nationwide bank strike of September 2026, consider the following organisations:
1. All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA)
2. All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC)
3. All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA)
4. Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI)
Which of the above are correctly identified as constituent unions of the UFBU?
- All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA)
- All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC)
- All India Insurance Employees' Association (AIIEA)
- Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI)
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 1 and 3 only
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA):
1. UFBU is an umbrella body bringing together both workmen employees' unions and officers' associations, whereas IBA negotiates as the representative of bank managements which have mandated it to do so.
2. UFBU in its present form functions with seven constituent unions, a smaller number than in the phase when it operated with nine constituents.
3. IBA's membership is confined to public sector banks, whereas UFBU alone brings in employees of private and foreign banks.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- UFBU is an umbrella body bringing together both workmen employees' unions and officers' associations, whereas IBA negotiates as the representative of bank managements which have mandated it to do so.
- UFBU in its present form functions with seven constituent unions, a smaller number than in the phase when it operated with nine constituents.
- IBA's membership is confined to public sector banks, whereas UFBU alone brings in employees of private and foreign banks.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. With reference to the 12th Bipartite Settlement / 9th Joint Note in the banking industry, consider the following statements:
1. It was signed on March 8, 2024 between the Indian Banks' Association and the workmen unions and officers' associations.
2. It provided for a 17 per cent increase in the annual wage bill over the settlement period of five years.
3. It applied only to public sector banks, no private sector or foreign bank being a party to it.
4. It provided that, on the introduction of a five-day banking week, daily working hours from Monday to Friday would be reduced by 40 minutes.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- It was signed on March 8, 2024 between the Indian Banks' Association and the workmen unions and officers' associations.
- It provided for a 17 per cent increase in the annual wage bill over the settlement period of five years.
- It applied only to public sector banks, no private sector or foreign bank being a party to it.
- It provided that, on the introduction of a five-day banking week, daily working hours from Monday to Friday would be reduced by 40 minutes.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 3 and 4
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q4. The bipartite wage settlement that currently governs pay of public sector bank employees, and in which the agreement on a five-day banking week was recorded, was concluded as which settlement and in which year?
- A. The 10th Bipartite Settlement, signed in 2015
- B. The 11th Bipartite Settlement, signed in 2020
- C. The 12th Bipartite Settlement, signed in 2024
- D. The 12th Bipartite Settlement, signed in 2026
Q5. The revised Performance Linked Incentive scheme for whole-time directors and senior executives of public sector banks, issued in November 2024, was framed and issued under which authority?
- A. The Reserve Bank of India, with the approval of its Central Board of Directors
- B. The Department of Financial Services, with the approval of the Union Finance Minister
- C. The Indian Banks' Association, with the approval of its Managing Committee
- D. The Department of Public Enterprises, with the approval of the Union Cabinet
Q6. Consider the following features attributed to the revised Performance Linked Incentive framework for public sector banks:
1. It extends performance-linked incentive to officers of Scale IV and above, in addition to whole-time directors.
2. A bank's eligibility is assessed on parameters that include a positive Return on Assets and lower net non-performing assets.
3. Employees up to Scale III continue under the wage-settlement formula of a maximum of 15 days' basic pay and dearness allowance.
4. Senior executives covered by the revised scheme are subject to the same 15 days' basic pay ceiling as the rest of the workforce.
Which of the above are correctly identified?
- It extends performance-linked incentive to officers of Scale IV and above, in addition to whole-time directors.
- A bank's eligibility is assessed on parameters that include a positive Return on Assets and lower net non-performing assets.
- Employees up to Scale III continue under the wage-settlement formula of a maximum of 15 days' basic pay and dearness allowance.
- Senior executives covered by the revised scheme are subject to the same 15 days' basic pay ceiling as the rest of the workforce.
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1 and 4 only
- D. 2, 3 and 4
Q7. The 'five-day banking week' pressed by bank unions in 2026 would, in operational terms, mean which one of the following?
- A. Declaring all Saturdays as holidays for banks, Sundays already being holidays
- B. Declaring the second and fourth Saturdays as holidays, the remaining Saturdays staying working days
- C. Allowing staff to work any five days of a six-day week on a rotational roster
- D. Closing branches to public transactions on Saturdays while back-office work continues
Q8. Under the March 2024 bipartite understanding, by how many minutes would the daily working hours from Monday to Friday be extended to compensate for closure of banks on Saturdays?
- A. 20 minutes
- B. 30 minutes
- C. 40 minutes
- D. 45 minutes
Q9. Which one of the following correctly describes the status and remit of the Department of Financial Services in relation to public sector banks?
- A. A statutory authority constituted under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, with exclusive power to fix wages in banks
- B. The sole regulator of all banking companies in India, exercising licensing and supervisory powers over every bank
- C. An autonomous body functioning under the Reserve Bank of India that handles all personnel matters of public sector banks
- D. A department of the Ministry of Finance that is the nodal authority for banking and insurance, overseeing PSBs, NABARD and SIDBI
Q10. Excluding the indefinite strike threatened from October 26, how many days of nationwide bank strike were placed on the UFBU calendar for September 2026?
Q11. Among the consolidated labour codes, which one is the principal enactment governing strike notice by employees such as bank staff, having subsumed the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926 and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946?
- A. The Code on Wages, 2019
- B. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- C. The Code on Social Security, 2020
- D. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Q12. In the wage-settlement process for public sector bank employees, the Indian Banks' Association is most accurately described as which one of the following?
- A. A statutory body constituted under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to fix pay scales for public sector bank staff
- B. A voluntary association of banks that member managements have mandated to negotiate wage revision on their behalf
- C. A tripartite forum of bank managements, employee unions and the Central Government set up under labour legislation
- D. An arm of the Department of Financial Services that approves wage settlements arrived at by public sector banks