India’s bank closures in October due to holidays, not return to the gold standard

Claim: The bank closures in India in October 2022 were because of a return to the gold standard there. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim can be found in a post on October 19 in the Community section of the YouTube channel “Filipino Future,” which has a history of spreading false Marcos-related claims, including some about the so-called “Marcos gold.” As of writing, the post has about 1,300 likes and 176 comments. 

The claim reads: “Bakit kaya ang mga bangko sa bansang India ay nagshutdown for 20 days? Alam nyo kung bakit? INDIA IS NOW RETURNING TO GOLD STANDARD ECONOMY.” (Why have the banks in India shut down for 20 days? Do you know why? INDIA IS NOW RETURNING TO GOLD STANDARD ECONOMY.) 

The bottom line: The bank closures in India in October was not because of a return to the gold standard, but because of a string of holidays. The gold standard, according to the New York-based financial website Investopedia, “is a monetary system where a country’s currency or paper money has a value directly linked to gold.” I explains: “A country that uses the gold standard sets a fixed price for gold and buys and sells gold at that price. That fixed price is used to determine the value of the currency.”

List of bank holidays in India: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has listed down the following holidays in October which led to bank closures in India. Note that in India, on a national holiday, all banks all over the country close. On a regional holiday, banks will close only in those regions observing it. The RBI link has a guide on the dates when there will be bank holidays for each city.

1. Half Yearly Closing of Bank Accounts – October 1
2. Durga Puja (Maha Ashtami) – October 3
3. Durga Puja/Dussehra (Maha Navami)/Ayudha pooja/Janmotsav of Srimanta Sankardeva – October 4
4. Durga Puja/Dussehra (Vijaya Dashmi)/Janmotsav of Srimanta Sankardeva – October 5
5. Durga Puja (Dasain) – October 6
6. Durga Puja (Dasain) – October 7
7. Milad-i-Sherif/Eid-i-Milad-ul-Nabi (Birthday of Prophet Muhammed) – October 8
8. Karva Chauth – October 13
9. Friday following Eid-i-Milad-ul-Nabi – October 14
10. Kati Bihu – October 18
11. Kali Puja/Deepavali/Diwali (Laxmi Pujan)/Naraka Chaturdashi – October 24
12. Laxmi Puja/Deepawali/Govardhan Pooja – October 25
13. Govardhan Pooja/Vikram Samvant New Year Day/Bhai Bij/Bhai Duj/Diwali (Bali Pratipada)/Laxmi Puja/Accession Day – October 26
14. Bhaidooj/Chitragupt Jayanti/Laxmi Puja/Deepawali/Ningol Chakkouba – October 27
15. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s Birthday/Surya Pashti Dala Chhath (Morning ardhya)/Chhath Puja – October 31

Note that the RBI has released lists of bank holidays in previous years as well, as can be searched in the RBI link too.

Other bank holidays in India: The other days of bank closures in India in October are Sundays (October 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30) and the second and fourth Saturdays (October 8 and 22 – although October 8 was already mentioned above in the list of holidays). In India, since September 1, 2015, banks have been open on Saturdays, except for the second and fourth Saturday of every month. 

Gandhi Jayanti: October 2 is also a holiday, Gandhi Jayanti, which commemorates the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who is regarded as India’s “Father of the Nation.” As Gandhi Jayanti was a national holiday, all banks in India were closed on that date and would have been closed even if it didn’t fall on a Sunday in 2022.  

Some media reports in India on October bank holidays: Collectively, the bank holidays in India in October amount to 21 days, which have been reported in various news outlets there, such as Business Today, The Economic Times, Business Standard, and Jagran, which was the source of the screenshot of the news item seen in the post from “Filipino Future.” There were no mentions of any return to the gold standard in these news reports. – Percival Bueser/Rappler.com

Percival Bueser is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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