Central government employees and pensioners are set to receive their September 2026 salaries and pensions in advance on September 25, ahead of a proposed three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to 30.

The decision has been taken to avoid any delay in the disbursal of salaries, wages and pension payments due to the possibility of disruptions in banking transactions during the three-day bank strike.

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, in an Office Memorandum (OM) dated September 23, informed about the early disbursal of salary and pension for central government employees and pensioners.

According to the order, the September salary, wages and pension payments will be drawn and disbursed on Friday, September 25, 2026, instead of waiting until the usual payment schedule.

The Department of Financial Services has stated that banking transactions could be disrupted during the proposed three-day nationwide bank strike from September 28 to September 30.

As the strike period is close to the end of September, the government has decided to advance the payment of salary, wages and pension so that employees and pensioners do not face any inconvenience.

The Ministry of Communications, Department of Posts, in its letter dated September 23 to heads of postal offices, has also requested that necessary instructions should be issued to all drawing and disbursing offices (DDO) concerned to submit the salary or pension drawal to banks positively by September 25, 2026.

The advance payment arrangement applies to central government employees, including employees working under central government offices, defence, posts and telecommunications.

The order also covers industrial employees of the central government.

Their September 2026 salary or wages will also be disbursed in advance on September 25, 2026.

Central government pensioners to get September pension early

Central government pensioners will also benefit from the advance payment arrangement.

The September 2026 pension of central government pensioners will be disbursed by the concerned banks or Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) on September 25.

The government has specifically stated that any adjustment arising from the advance payment will be made from the October 2026 salary or wages.

The order says that the adjustment, if required, will be made without exception from the salary or wages for October 2026.

Therefore, employees should not treat the early payment as an additional month's salary. It is simply the September payment being released earlier than usual.

The Finance Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to communicate these instructions to the paying branches of banks so that advance payment arrangements can be implemented.

The concerned ministries and departments have also been asked to circulate the instructions to their offices for immediate necessary action.