Difference Between Trading Holiday and Bank Holiday

Introduction

In India, there are two kinds of holidays, announced and approved by the government of India. It is a trading holiday and a bank holiday. The stock market holidays are NSE holidays and BSE holidays, where NSE and BSE are the trading markets in which buying and selling of shares take place.

What Is a Trading Holiday?

A trading holiday is defined as any special holiday when trading of shares does not take place at NSE or BSE. NSE operates from Monday to Friday and is closed every Saturday and Sunday. This list involves the commodity market holidays as well.

The list of trading holidays for the year 2022 are:

1. Republic Day, January 26, 2022, Wednesday.
2. Mahashivratri March 01, 2022, Tuesday.
3. Holi March 18, 2022, Friday.
4. Mahavir Jayanti / Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti, April 14, 2022, Thursday.
5. Good Friday, April 15, 2022, Friday.
6. Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramzan Id) May 03, 2022, Tuesday.
7. Muharram, August 09, 2022, Tuesday.
8. Independence Day, August 15, 2022, Monday.
9. Ganesh Chaturthi, August 31, 2022, Wednesday.
10.  Dussehra, October 05, 2022, Wednesday.
11.  Diwali Laxmi Pujan, October 24, 2022, Monday.
12.  Diwali Balipratipada, October 26, 2022, Wednesday.
13.  Gurunanak Jayanti November 08, 2022, Tuesday.

What Is a Bank Holiday?

A bank holiday, on the other hand, refers to a business day when financial institutions are closed for all public dealings. This is relevant for physical branch locations as online banking operations do not stop during this period. It is to be noted here that bank holidays do not necessarily collide with the BSE holidays, NSE holidays, or the commodity market holidays. Every month, the second and fourth Saturday is a bank holiday.

The list of bank holidays in India for the year 2022 is:

1. Republic Day Wed, 26 Jan 2022.
2. Rama Navami Likely Sun, 10 Apr 2022.
3. Ambedkar Jayanti Thu, 14 Apr, 2022.
4. Good Friday Fri, 15 Apr 2022.
5. Eid al-Fitr Likely 2–3 May 2022.
6. Eid al-Adha Likely 9–10 Jul 2022.
7. Indian Independence Day Mon, 15 Aug 2022.
8. Gandhi Jayanti Sun, 2 Oct, 2022.
9. Dussehra Likely Wed, 5 Oct 2022.
10. Prophet's Birthday Likely 7–8 Oct 2022.
11. Diwali Likely Mon, 24 Oct 2022.
12. Christmas Day Sun, 25 Dec 2022.

Differences Between Trading Holidays and Bank Holidays

Bank holidays may vary a bit from state to state, owing to their list of state holidays but a trading holiday remains the same all across the country.

The Exchange holidays are decided by the exchange authorities in India, viz; the BSE and the NSE. The bank holidays, on the other hand, are decided by the Central Government, State Government, and the various Union territories in India. 

The Exchange may, however, close the market on days other than the scheduled holidays or may open the market on days originally declared as holidays. The Exchange has the authority to extend, advance, or reduce trading hours when it deems fit and necessary. In the case of bank holidays, this is not possible. 

If a bank holiday falls on a weekend, then the bank would observe a holiday either on the Friday before it, or the Monday after it. Such provision does not exist with a trading holiday.