Banking services in the state have been affected on Monday as around 40,000 bank employees and officers go on a two-day strike to protest against the government's decision to privatise two state-run banks.

Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government's disinvestment plan in the Union Budget for the next fiscal.

The pan-India strike on March 15-16 has been called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions that claims the participation of about 10 lakh bank employees and officers in the strike. However, UFBU's Maharashtra Convenor Devidas Tuljapurkar in a statement said that about 40,000 employees and officers working in about 10,000 branches across the state have joined the protest.

State-run lenders, including the Central Bank of India, among others, have informed their customers to use digital channels like internet or mobile banking, and ATM services for making transactions during this period.

Members of the UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers' Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI). Others include Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).