NEFT, RTGS charges likely to drop; RBI waives charges

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday has done away with the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) charges – aimed at reducing the costs of the payment modes.

In a bid to boost to digital funds movement, the central bank decided to do away with the RTGC and NEFT charges, RBI said in the press release.

"In order to provide an impetus to digital funds movement, it has been decided to do away with the charges levied by the Reserve Bank for transactions processed in the RTGS and NEFT systems. Banks will be required, in turn, to pass these benefits to their customers.

Instructions to banks in this regard will be issued within a week," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das told reporters.

RBI levies minimum charges on banks for transactions routed through its Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers and the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) System for other fund transfers.

Earlier, RBI had extended the time window for RTGS by one-and-a-half hours for bank customers with effect from 1 June 2019. Previously the timing for any RTGS transaction was till 4:30 pm.