RBI To Allow Round-The-Clock NEFT Fund Transfers From December

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow round-the-clock National Electronic Funds Transfer from December this year to promote digital transactions.

The decision "is expected to revolutionise the retail payments system of the country" the central bank said.

NEFT at present is operated by RBI as a retail payment system, available to customers from 8 am to 7 pm on all working days, with the exception of second and fourth Saturdays of a month.

The NEFT system is used for fund transfers up to Rs 2 lakh.

In its Payment System Vision 2021 document, RBI had said that it will make available the NEFT fund transfer system on a 24x7 basis from Dec. 2019.

RBI had in its June monetary policy done away with charges on fund transfers through Real Time Gross Settlement and NEFT routes to boost digital transactions and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers.

RTGS is meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers.

The central bank has also set up a committee under the chairmanship of the chief executive officer of Indian Banks’ Association to examine the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees.