State Bank of India (SBI) customers nationwide faced problems while availing of banking services ranging from mobile banking to ATM withdrawal to fund transfer on April 1. The shut-down in the morning left numerous users high and dry, without being able to conduct transactions.

Down detector, a live service disruption tracking online portal, shows reports which mention that customers started complaining about the SBI services around 8:15 AM. The maximum number of complaints were made at 11:45 AM when thousands of customers complained about services being interrupted. Services interrupted are internet banking, UPI payments, and debit card payments. Social networking sites experienced a big number of customers complaining about the service disruption, asking the bank to respond promptly.

SBI Acknowledges Interruptions

Following customer outcry, SBI released an official statement indicating temporary suspension of service. The bank rationalized the glitch as one of its annual financial closing operations, which are conducted around the close of a financial year.

SBI notified that digital banking services would be unavailable from 1:00 PM IST to 4:00 PM IST on April 1, 2025 The bank assured the customers that they were trying their best to combat any service shortcomings and resume regular services at the earliest.

SBI also requested customers to utilize other channels such as UPI Lite and ATMs during times of service unavailability. SBI apologized for the inconvenience and expressed gratitude to its customers for their cooperation.

NPCI's Advisory

Apart from SBI, there are certain other banks too which are experiencing recurring failure of transactions due to the last day of the financial year. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, has ensured that certain banks are taking advantage of technical glitches for the purpose of transactions.

NPCI, however, reassured the clients that the UPI infrastructure itself is in full working. It further indicated that its employee members are even negotiating with affected banks with the vision of curtailing the disruptions as well as return to normal activity at the earliest possible.

Customer Reactions and Impact on Transactions

SBI downtime has proved to be inconvenient to the majority of customers, particularly those who utilized digital banking for real-time transactions. The majority of the customers aired their displeasure on social media platforms like X (former Twitter) and Facebook and reported complaining about:

• UPI transactions failed: Customers complained regarding failed UPI payments on websites and shopping malls.
• ATM cash withdrawal issues: Customers were reporting that they were not being able to withdraw cash from ATMs whereas others were getting the transactions done but with a time lag.
• Internet banking issues: Users attempting to use the SBI website to carry out net banking were receiving error messages and therefore were unable to check their accounts.

Some of the customers complained that it was not the appropriate time for shutdown because usual end-of-financial year processes include higher transaction volumes by account and business units to close accounts. Some other customers complained that SBI should have provided advanced notice for the maintenance work schedule.

Precedent Cases of SBI Service Interruptions

It is not the first time that SBI has witnessed its severe service distress. There have been moments in the past one year when the online banking services have proved to be inconvenient for the customers due to technical failures, server upgradation, or maintenance work.

While periodic maintenance is essential for security and performance optimization, unexpected outages do have the potential to bring in blanket disillusionment amongst users. SBI being India's largest public sector bank with more than 480 million customers, any outage has the potential to cause inconvenience to an overwhelming number of users.

What Customers Can Do

While SBI is recovering, customers can use these methods in an attempt not to be inconvenienced:

• Utilize other banking facilities like credit cards, wallets (Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, etc.), or net banking facilities of other banks.

• Withdraw cash in advance if ATM facilities are not reliable.

• Use UPI Lite transaction, which may have a lower failure rate during bank downtimes.

• Stay updated via SBI’s official channels for real-time service updates.

SBI’s digital banking services faced a major disruption today due to annual financial closing activities, affecting mobile banking, ATM withdrawals, and fund transfers. While the bank has acknowledged the issue and is working on restoration, customers have faced inconvenience in completing transactions. NPCI has also addressed the UPI-related disruptions and assured users that the core system is functional.

As SBI is India's biggest bank, it must be in a situation where it can speak better and make up for gaps in such a way that it should never prove inconvenient to all. Customers, however, are requested to clear by other modes and remain aware through reliable media.