Two-Day Weekend Causes Strain in Nepal’s Insurance Sector

Kathmandu — The government’s decision to introduce a two-day weekend on Saturdays and Sundays, citing a fuel shortage, has created challenges in Nepal’s insurance sector after being enforced across insurance companies.

The policy is expected to inconvenience policyholders. Even under normal conditions, insurance is a highly sensitive field that often requires continuous service. In emergency situations, companies may need to operate around the clock. In fact, some insurers have already been providing services on Saturdays to handle urgent claims.

There have long been occasional calls for insurance companies to remain open on Saturdays to better support clients during emergencies. However, the addition of Sunday as a public holiday has further reduced service days. This could lead to delays and complications in emergency situations and time-sensitive insurance claims.

Industry professionals argue that a two-day weekend should not be uniformly applied across all sectors. Critical services such as insurance and healthcare could have been exempted. Even if adopted in principle, they say the insurance sector could have continued operating in practice as before.

Kedarnath Adhikari, president of the Professional Insurance Agents Association, described the move as a rushed decision. He believes the government has failed to show adequate sensitivity toward high-risk sectors. According to him, the policy will significantly disrupt fast-track claim processing.

At a time when insurance companies should be expanding access through extended service counters, similar to banks, the introduction of a two-day weekend appears to have been implemented without sufficient study. Adhikari also pointed out that if insurance policies cannot be issued after office hours on Fridays, they may be delayed by more than 48 hours, putting clients at a disadvantage. He emphasized the need to revise the policy for sectors that handle risk transfer and require timely service.

Chunky Chhetri, CEO of Sagarmatha Insurance, noted that Nepal already has a high number of public holidays, which can affect operations. While banks have introduced alternative service options during holidays, he suggested that insurance companies could also develop systems to provide emergency services through central offices even on days off.

Supporters of the two-day weekend believe it could improve employee productivity and work-life balance. The decision comes amid global fuel supply disruptions linked to conflicts in West Asia. While employees have largely welcomed the move, concerns remain about its impact on overall service delivery.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal will observe 35 public holidays in the upcoming year. Additional regional and community-specific festivals such as Teej, Jitiya, Gaijatra, and Indrajatra contribute up to 15 more days off. Including regular Saturdays and the newly added Sundays, the total number of holidays could reach 154 days.

This means that nearly 42 percent of the year may be spent on holidays. Critics question whether such a high number of non-working days could disrupt public services, increase backlogs, and force service users to wait longer. Others argue that with proper adjustment of existing holidays, a two-day weekend system could still be effective in the long term.

Nepal already ranks among the countries with the highest number of public holidays globally. Countries such as India, Colombia, and the Philippines have around 18 public holidays each. In contrast, countries like the United Kingdom and Canada have fewer than 10 public holidays per year, excluding weekends.

Similarly, the United States has 12 public holidays, France 11, Denmark 9, and China 7, according to international reports. In general, developed countries tend to have fewer public holidays, while developing countries often have more.

Nepal had previously experimented with a two-day weekend to boost economic activity, but the policy was withdrawn after criticism over poor preparation and disruptions to service delivery. Experts say that with better planning and a review of existing holidays, the current system could succeed in the long run.

However, insurance officials maintain that their sector cannot fully adopt a two-day weekend, as they are expected to remain available to support policyholders, especially during claim emergencies.