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March 2021 Govt Transaction Closure Moved to April 12

Current · Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2021-22/18 · issued 07 Apr 2021 · ~2 min read
Quick answerRBI has shifted the closure date for reporting March 2021 residual central government transactions from April 10 to April 12, 2021, due to holidays. Agency banks must submit all residual transactions by 2:00 PM on April 12, keeping March and April transactions separate.
The rule, in the simplest words
How it plays out — a real example

An agency-banking (government business) officer in Indore, Priya, is handling government tax collections at her branch. She updates her system to show the new deadline of April 12, 2021, and tells her team to prepare two separate scrolls: one for any leftover March 2021 transactions and another for April transactions. She double-checks that all March 31 payments are booked in the 2020-21 accounts, so nothing gets mixed up, and submits the March scroll to RBI by 2:00 PM on April 12.

What changed

The closure date for residual March 2021 government transactions was originally April 10, 2021. Due to holidays on April 10 (second Saturday) and April 11 (Sunday), the Government of India moved the closure to April 12, 2021. Banks must now report all residual March transactions by 2:00 PM on April 12, not April 10.

What it means for you

Agency banks get two extra days to finalize March 2021 government transactions, but must maintain strict separation between March residual and April transactions. Nodal branches need to prepare separate scrolls for each period and ensure March transactions are booked in FY 2020-21 accounts. This avoids accounting mix-ups and ensures accurate government cash reporting.

What you must do

Who it affects

All agency banks handling central government transactions, Nodal and focal point branches of agency banks, Bank branches dealing with government revenue, tax collections, and payments

❓ Common questions

Why was the closure date changed from April 10 to April 12?

April 10, 2021, was a second Saturday and April 11 a Sunday, both holidays. The Government of India decided to extend the closure to April 12 to account for these non-working days.

What happens if we mix March residual transactions with April transactions?

RBI has explicitly instructed that March 2021 residual transactions must be kept separate from April 2021 transactions. Mixing them could lead to accounting errors and non-compliance with the circular. Nodal branches must prepare separate scrolls for each period.

Is the earlier circular from March 18, 2021, still valid?

Yes, all other instructions from the March 18 circular remain operational, except the closure date is now April 12 instead of April 10. Banks must adhere to those instructions with the updated date.

📜 Read the original circular — full text as issued by RBI
RBI/2021-22/18 DGBA.GBD.No.S26/42.01.029/2021-22 April 07, 2021 All Agency Banks Madam/Dear Sir, Reporting and Accounting of Central Government transactions of March 2021 – Change of date of closure Please refer Circular DGBA.GBD.No.S-140/42.01.029/2020-21 dated March 18, 2021 where in the date of closure for reporting residual transactions of March 2021 was fixed as April 10, 2021. 2. On account of holidays on April 10 and 11, 2021 (second Saturday and Sunday respectively), Government of India has now decided that the date of closure of residual transactions for the month of March 2021 be fixed as April 12, 2021. All agency banks may take note of the change of date of closure and ensure that arrangements are put in place to report all the March 2021 residual transactions by 1400 hours of April 12, 2021. 3. All other instructions contained in Circular DGBA.GBD.No.S-140/42.01.029/2020-21 dated March 18, 2021 are operational and may be adhered to, taking into account closure date as April 12, 2021. To sum up, the nodal/Focal Point branches will be required to prepare separate set of scrolls, one pertaining to March 2021 residual transactions and another for April transactions during the first 12 days of April 2021. The Nodal/Focal Point branches should also ensure that the accounts for all transactions (revenues/tax collections/payments) up to March 31, 2021 are effected at the receiving branches in the accounts for financial year 2020-21 itself and are not mixed up with the transactions of April 2021. Also, while reporting transactions pertaining to March 2021 up to April 12, 2021, the transactions of April 2021 should not be mixed up with the residual transactions relating to March 2021. 4. Kindly issue necessary instructions in the matter to your branches concerned immediately. Yours faithfully (R. Kamalakannan) Chief General Manager
Reproduced for reference with acknowledgment — Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2021-22/18 · issued 07 Apr 2021. The plain-English explanation above is BankPulse’s own independent summary.
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Who does what — compliance checklist
🏦 Branch Manager
  • Update internal systems and branch instructions to reflect the new closure date of April 12, 2021.
  • Ensure nodal/focal point branches prepare separate scrolls for March residual and April transactions.
  • Communicate the change immediately to all concerned branches and focal points.
📜 Compliance
  • Verify that all March 2021 transactions up to March 31 are booked in FY 2020-21 accounts, not mixed with April entries.
  • Submit all residual March 2021 transactions to RBI by 2:00 PM on April 12, 2021.
Grouped from the action items above — a single circular may involve more than one team.
Worked example & action-note template

Example: if you are a Branch Manager at a bank this circular applies to (All agency banks handling central government transactions, Nodal and focal point branches of agency banks, Bank branches dealing with government revenue, tax collections, and payments), your first concrete step on “March 2021 Govt Transaction Closure Moved to April 12” is: “Update internal systems and branch instructions to reflect the new closure date of April 12, 2021.” (RBI issued this 07 Apr 2021).

  1. Circular: RBI/2021-22/18 -- March 2021 Govt Transaction Closure Moved to April 12
  2. Issued: 07 Apr 2021
  3. Action required: Update internal systems and branch instructions to reflect the new closure date of April 12, 2021.
  4. Action required: Ensure nodal/focal point branches prepare separate scrolls for March residual and April transactions.
  5. Action required: Verify that all March 2021 transactions up to March 31 are booked in FY 2020-21 accounts, not mixed with April entries.
  6. Action required: Submit all residual March 2021 transactions to RBI by 2:00 PM on April 12, 2021.
  7. Action required: Communicate the change immediately to all concerned branches and focal points.
  8. Owner: ____________ Target date: ____________
  9. Board/committee approval needed? Y / N
  10. Evidence filed in compliance register on: ____________
Built only from this circular’s own published fields — not legal advice; always confirm against the official RBI source.

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BankPulse Compliance Evidence Pack — generated 03 Aug 2026 · status cross-checked against RBI’s official withdrawal register (refreshed weekly).
Official RBI source: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12072&Mode=0 — Plain-English summary by BankPulse (bankpulse.ai), reviewed by our expert reviewer, CA Amit Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India; is our own plain-English paraphrase, not RBI’s original wording.
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