RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has ordered the banks to stop taking NEFT and RTGS charges from saving account holders from January 2020.
NEFT which stands for National Electronic Funds Transfer is a system which is maintained by RBI wherein the funds are transferred electronically. The transfers can be made by an individual or a company to another individual or company holding account in another bank which is a member of RBI’s NEFT system. Same goes with RTGS which stands for Real Time Gross Settlement.
The only thing that differentiate NEFT and RTGS from one another is the amount cap that one can be used for. NEFT is used to transfer funds of no more than Rs, 10 lakhs and RTGS is only used for funds transfers of amount over Rs. 2 lakhs.
RBI had earlier said that they are done with charges on RTGS and NEFT and added ‘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’.
At this moment, if someone is using RTGS service to transfer a sum between Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakhs, a bank can charge Rs. 30 at maximum and if the amount is over RS. 5 lakhs the maximum fee of Rs. 55 can be charged. These amounts are the maximum limit hence the actual fees depends upon the time and the day of the service. Bank are eligible to charge any amount from the customer but not exceeding the set limit.
Likewise, for NEFT a bank can charge a maximum of Rs. 2.5 (+GST) for transactions amounting upto Rs. 10,000, Rs. 5 (+GST) for transactions between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 1 lakhs, Rs. 15 (+GST) for transactions between Rs. 1 Lakhs and Rs. 2 lakhs, and for transaction over Rs. 2 lakhs a maximum of Rs. 25 (+GST) can be charged.
One can use RTGS services from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays and weekends that are working for the bank, and NEFT services can be used between 8:00 am to 7:00 pm on the same days. Please keep in mind, a particular bank can change the timings as per their operation hours.
