Public Sector Banks amalgamation: Govt fact-checks viral claim on SBI, PNB, BoB. Here’s what it says
The government fact-checked a viral claim that the Centre notified a scheme for the amalgamation of Public Sector Banks. A document, in the name of the Ministry of Finance, was widely circulated online. Here’s what the viral document stated and what the government said in its fact check report:
What was the viral claim?
A document circulating on social media claimed that the central government had notified a scheme for the amalgamation of Public Sector Banks.
The purported document was formatted as an Extraordinary Gazette of India from the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Services. It carried the date September 15, 2026, F. No. 10/03/2026-BO.I and G.S.R. 612(E).
The two-page document was attributed to “(Dr. M. P. Sharma), Joint Secretary to the Government of India”.
Notifying the “Scheme of Amalgamation & Structure,” the document claimed: “Under the provisions of this Scheme, the specified Transferor Banks listed in Column (2) shall be amalgamated into their respective Transferee Banks specified in Column (3), resulting in the restructured entities as specified in Column (4).”
As per the viral “gazette”, Indian Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Central Bank of India would be amalgamated into State Bank of India, forming SBI Group.
It further claimed that Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank would be merged into Punjab National Bank.
The document added that Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank were purportedly to be transferred to Bank of Baroda.
It also claimed that assets, liabilities, rights, claims and obligations would transfer to the respective acquiring banks. Employees were claimed to retain continuity of service, while customer accounts and banking arrangements would remain valid.
What did PIB Factcheck reveal?
PIB Fact Check rejected the document as “fake”. It said it was not an official Finance Ministry notification.
“The document is #Fake and has NOT been issued by @FinMinIndia,” the PIB factcheck posted on X. “Fake document circulating regarding amalgamation of public sector banks,” it said.
It also urged people to “always verify such information through official and credible sources before believing or sharing it.”
