RTGS facility to be available 24 hours from December
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday that the facility of RTGS (real time gross settlement of payments) in India for transfer of large amount will be started round the clock from December. This will help efforts to integrate the Indian financial market with global markets. “India will be among the few countries globally where 24 hours, seven days, twelve months immediate settlement of large value payments will be available,” said the limited-edition report released after the first three-day meeting of the reconstituted Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI. This facility will be effective from December 2020.
Earlier in December 2019, the RBI opened the NEFT system (National Electronic Fund Transfer System) 24 hours a day. According to the report, NEFT has been working round the clock since that time. RTGS is open only from 7 am to 6 pm on all business days of banks (except second and fourth Saturdays).
RBI has said that the availability of RTGS round the clock will help in the ongoing efforts to coordinate the Indian financial market with the global market and in the development of international financial centers in India. This will make payment to Indian companies and institutions more easy. From July 2019, the Reserve Bank stopped charging fees on money transfers through NEFT and RTGS. This step was taken to promote digital transactions in the country. Quick transfer of large amount is done through RTGS whereas NEFT is generally used to send money up to two lakh rupees.
