Post Office Holidays 2026, India Post Official Holiday List

Going to your post office for a parcel, savings deposit or money order? If you have an idea of when the offices of India Post will be closed, it will save you from an unnecessary journey. Indian post offices in 2026 will be closed on these dates, which are the complete and verified list of Indian Post Holidays 2026.

The following is an official list of all India holidays notified by India Post. The post offices do not observe the bank holiday schedule declared by the Reserve Bank of India under Negotiable Instruments Act, but some dates coincide. 

India Post Official Holidays 2026, All India List

India Post has notified 14 All India holidays for 2026. Every post office across the country remains closed on these dates.

*Dates for Islamic holidays are as notified by the Government of India and may vary by one day depending on the actual sighting of the moon.

Source: India Post official holiday list, indiapost.gov.in

How Post Office Working Days Differ from Bank Holidays

There are days when the Post Office, unlike the banks, is closed.Post Office working days differ from bank holidays.

One of the misconceptions is that post offices and banks have the same holiday schedule. No, they do not, and here's why.

The Bank Holidays are notified state by state under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) releases a Holiday Matrix for all its regional offices. Banks will follow these RBI notified holidays and add any state specific holiday.

India Post is one of the departments of the Central government under the ministries of Communications. It has a list of Holidays notified by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) which sets out the list of Closed Holidays for central government offices annually. National holidays like Republic Day, Independence Day, and Gandhi Jayanti are included on both lists, though numerous holidays celebrated for banks are not necessarily those celebrated by post offices and vice versa.

If you want to find out if your post office is open on a certain day, please consult India Post's post office timings or reach out to the nearest post office, rather than a bank holiday calendar. 

Saturday and Sunday Working Rules for Post Offices

Knowing what days your Post Office is open can save you a trip on a day that it is closed.

Sundays: All post offices closed.

2nd and 4th Saturdays: Post offices closed. India Post is a central government department and thus works on the working day rules as are observed in other central government offices, which means that the second and fourth Saturdays of each month are non-working days.

Post offices open and will be operating on regular business hours on 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturdays. 

Complete 2nd and 4th Saturday Schedule, 2026

These are the 24 Saturdays in 2026 when post offices will be closed (in addition to gazetted holidays and Sundays):

Month-by-Month Post Office Holiday Calendar 2026

January 2026

Working Saturdays: 3 Jan, 17 Jan, 31 Jan

February 2026

No gazetted India Post holiday falls in February 2026.

Working Saturdays: 7 Feb, 21 Feb

March 2026

The day of Id-ul-Fitr is a regular working day, 3rd Saturday. The post office is closed for the holiday, not due to a Saturday rule.

Working Saturdays: 7 Mar

For the post offices in Delhi: Holi (4 March, Wednesday) is a Closed Holiday as per the DoPT notification issued for the central government offices in Delhi. The Delhi post offices may be closed on this day. Check with the local post office. 

April 2026

Working Saturdays: 4 Apr, 18 Apr

May 2026

Working Saturdays: 2 May, 16 May, 30 May

June 2026

Working Saturdays: 6 Jun, 20 Jun

July 2026

No gazetted India Post holiday falls in July 2026.

Working Saturdays: 4 Jul, 18 Jul

August 2026

Independence Day falls on the 3rd Saturday, a regular working Saturday. The post office is closed for the national holiday.

Working Saturdays: 1 Aug, 29 Aug

Note for Delhi post offices: Janmashtami (4 September) is a Closed Holiday under DoPT for Delhi. See September for details.

September 2026

No gazetted India Post All India holiday falls in September 2026.

Working Saturdays: 5 Sep, 19 Sep

Note for Delhi post offices: Janmashtami (4 September, Friday) is a Closed Holiday under the DoPT notification for central government offices in Delhi. Post offices in Delhi may be closed. Confirm with your local post office.

October 2026

Working Saturdays: 3 Oct, 17 Oct, 31 Oct

November 2026

Diwali falls on Sunday, 8 November, post offices are already closed for the weekly off. No compensatory holiday on Monday, 9 November has been notified by India Post or DoPT as of the date of this research.

Working Saturdays: 7 Nov, 21 Nov

December 2026

Working Saturdays: 5 Dec, 19 Dec

Regional Holidays, What Your Local Post Office May Observe

All the post offices in India will observe the following 14 holidays. Postal Circles may have additional holidays based on region or state notification, however.

India Post is divided into 23 Postal Circles. These circles are not always one to one with states. For instance, the North East Postal Circle is in charge of several Northeastern states; the Gujarat Postal Circle covers Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli; and Kerala Postal Circle covers the Lakshadweep. 

For the DoPT notification covering central government offices in Delhi, three additional Closed Holidays are notified for 2026:

Post offices in other states may observe these and other festivals on different dates based on their respective state government notifications. Since India Post does not currently publish circle-specific holiday lists on its website, the most reliable way to confirm a regional holiday is to contact your local post office or the nearest Head Post Office.

Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), Important Distinction

People often refer to the "post office," which may be one of three things, with different hours.

India Post the post office and the place where you will send parcels, purchase stamps, register mail, and send money orders. The holiday dates mentioned here are for the services of India Post counter.

The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) provides small saving schemes such as Public Provident Fund (PPF, National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, recurring deposits and fixed deposits. India Post counters run the POSB services. The post office window is closed, therefore, so are POSB transactions. POSB observes the same working days and holidays as the Indian Post.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is an independent organization. A payments bank, licensed by Reserve Bank Of India (RBI), a corporate body under the Department of Posts. Since IPPB is an RBI banking license, the bank holiday dates are in line with RBI bank holiday dates, not with India Post's postal holiday dates. Like other banks, IPPB's digital services (app based transactions, AEPS) may be available during post office holidays too.

Wherever you are visiting the post office for IPPB services, please refer to IPPB's holiday schedule or please call IPPB customer care separately. 

What Services Are Available on Post Office Holidays?

Services at a post office cease on a gazetted holiday whether the service is the book of mail or parcel services, money orders, savings bank deposits or withdrawals.

But some of these services remain in operation:

Available on holidays:

• India Post's web services, such as tracking parcels and consignment at indiapost.gov.in, are working.

• Delivery services may still be available for some time sensitive items and the speed post/parcel delivery may be continued for some areas as operations for time sensitive delivery are continued in some areas on the public holiday depending on the local administration.

• In general, the IPPB mobile app and digital banking services are available (IPPB has its own schedule, see above).

Not open during holidays:

• At the Post Office window, there are over-the-counter sales.

• Withdrawals, account handling and operations that require counter visit for POSB (deposits).

• Being able to book and disburse money orders at the counter.

• Availability at the post office for registration and booking of Speed Post and parcels (caution: pre-booked pickups might still be provided in some areas).

• India Post's 1800-266-6868 helpline is available to offer information on the services offered in your locality, in case of any urgency during the holiday. 

Total Post Office Closures in 2026, A Quick Count

Here is a summary of how many days post offices remain closed in 2026:

Note on overlaps: Of the 14 All India holidays, Diwali (8 November) is on a Sunday. Id-ul-Fitr (21 March) and Independence Day (15 August) are holiday days and not Saturday days and fall on the 3rd Saturday which is a working day. There are no 2nd or 4th Saturdays in 2026. Thus, the total number of Sundays, second/fourth Saturdays and holidays on otherwise-working days is: 52 Sundays + 24 second/fourth Saturdays + 12 holidays on otherwise working days = 88. Other regional holidays may be recognized at your local post office. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is my post office open on the 1st Saturday of the month?
A: Yes. The post office is open on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Saturday. The 2nd and 4th Saturdays are NOT working days.

Q: Are post offices closed on bank holidays?
A: Not exactly. Banks are following the RBI Holiday Matrix which comes under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Post Offices have adopted a central government holiday calendar as announced by DoPT. There are a lot of national holidays shared by both, but state-specific ones are found as well.

Q: If I do come in on a busy Saturday will my PPF deposit be credited?
A: Services such as PPF offered by POSB run from the post office counter. Where the post office is open, PPF transactions can be conducted at traditional counter hours. The day that you deposit makes no difference in interest calculations; they are always made according to the month-end balance rule.

Q: Do all post offices in India observe the same holidays?
A: All India holidays as listed on this page are of uniform type 14. In addition to these other Regional Holidays may be observed by Postal Circles. Please note that India Post does not have any online lists of holidays specific to each office, please consult your local post office for local holidays.

Q: On Independence Day (15 August) 2026, are the post offices open?
A: No, although it is a Saturday (3rd Saturday which is normally a working day), Independence Day being a gazetted national holiday means the post office will be closed.

Q: If Diwali 2026 is on a Sunday, will Monday be a holiday?
A: There is no official notification of any compensatory holiday on 9th November on Monday. The post office will be open on Monday 9 November, until further notice.

Q: Can I track my parcel on a holiday?
A: Yes. The India Post online tracking indiapost.gov.in is operational on all days including Sundays and Holidays.

Q: So, is the 2nd and 4th Saturday rule the same as banks?
A: The closure on the 2nd and 4th Saturday is not a banking rule, it is a working day rule from the central government. This is followed by post offices as it is a department of the central government of India. Banks are also bound by it pursuant to its own individual RBI directive. The effect is the same – they're closed on the second and fourth Saturday – but they have different legal justifications. 

How to Confirm Your Local Post Office's Holiday Schedule

For the most up-to-date information:

1. India Post official website: Visit indiapost.gov.in and check the Holidays section.

2. India Post toll-free helpline: Call 1800-266-6868 (available on working days).

3. Your nearest Head Post Office: Head Post Offices and Regional offices can confirm Postal Circle-specific holidays that may not appear on the national list.